A history of presatellite investigations of the earth's radiation budget

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, G. E.; Kandel, R.; Mecherikunnel, A. T.

1986-01-01

The history of radiation budget studies from the early twentieth century to the advent of the space age is reviewed. By the beginning of the 1960's, accurate radiative models had been developed capable of estimating the global and zonally averaged components of the radiation budget, though great uncertainty in the derived parameters existed due to inaccuracy of the data describing the physical parameters used in the model, associated with clouds, the solar radiation, and the gaseous atmospheric absorbers. Over the century, the planetary albedo estimates had reduced from 89 to 30 percent.

Think the way to measure the Earth Radiation Budget and the Total Solar Irradiance with a small satellites constellation

Science.gov (United States)

Meftah, M.; Keckhut, P.; Damé, L.; Bekki, S.; Sarkissian, A.; Hauchecorne, A.

2018-05-01

Within the past decade, satellites constellations have become possible and practical. One of the interest to use a satellites constellation is to measure the true Earth Radiation Imbalance, which is a crucial quantity for testing climate models and for predicting the future course of global warming. This measurement presents a high interest because the 2001-2010 decade has not shown the accelerating pace of global warming that most models predict, despite the fact that the greenhouse-gas radiative forcing continues to rise. All estimates (ocean heat content and top of atmosphere) show that over the past decade the Earth radiation imbalance ranges between 0.5 to 1W-2. Up to now, the Earth radiation imbalance has not been measured directly. The only way to measure the imbalance with sufficient accuracy is to measure both the incoming solar radiations (total solar irradiance) and the outgoing terrestrial radiations (top of atmosphere outgoing longwave radiations and shortwave radiations) onboard the same satellite, and ideally, with the same instrument. The incoming solar radiations and the outgoing terrestrial radiations are of nearly equal magnitude of the order of 340.5W-2. The objective is to measure these quantities over time by using differential Sun-Earth measurements (to counter calibration errors) with an accuracy better than 0.05Wm-2 at 1σ. It is also necessary to have redundant instruments to track aging in space in order to measure during a decade and to measure the global diurnal cycle with a dozen satellites. Solar irradiance and Earth Radiation Budget (SERB) is a potential first in orbit demonstration satellite. The SERB nano-satellite aims to measure on the same platform the different components of the Earth radiation budget and the total solar irradiance. Instrumental payloads (solar radiometer and Earth radiometers) can acquire the technical maturity for the future large missions (constellation that insure global measurement cover) by flying in a

Observed perturbations of the Earth's Radiation Budget - A response to the El Chichon stratospheric aerosol layer?

Science.gov (United States)

Ardanuy, P. E.; Kyle, H. L.

1986-01-01

The Earth Radiation Budget experiment, launched aboard the Nimbus-7 polar-orbiting spacecraft in late 1978, has now taken over seven years of measurements. The dataset, which is global in coverage, consists of the individual components of the earth's radiation budget, including longwave emission, net radiation, and both total and near-infrared albedos. Starting some six months after the 1982 eruption of the El Chichon volcano, substantial long-lived positive shortwave irradiance anomalies were observed by the experiment in both the northern and southern polar regions. Analysis of the morphology of this phenomena indicates that the cause is the global stratospheric aerosol layer which formed from the cloud of volcanic effluents. There was little change in the emitted longwave in the polar regions. At the north pole the largest anomaly was in the near-infrared, but at the south pole the near UV-visible anomaly was larger. Assuming an exponential decay, the time constant for the north polar, near-infrared anomaly was 1.2 years. At mid- and low latitudes the effect of the El Chichon aerosol layer could not be separated from the strong reflected-shortwave and emitted-longwave perturbations issuing from the El Nino/Southern Oscillation event of 1982-83.

Nimbus-7 Earth radiation budget calibration history. Part 2: The Earth flux channels

Science.gov (United States)

Kyle, H. Lee; Hucek, Douglas Richard R.; Ardanuy, Philip E.; Hickey, John R.; Maschhoff, Robert H.; Penn, Lanning M.; Groveman, Brian S.; Vallette, Brenda J.

1994-01-01

Nine years (November 1978 to October 1987) of Nimbus-7 Earth radiation budget (ERB) products have shown that the global annual mean emitted longwave, absorbed shortwave, and net radiation were constant to within about + 0.5 W/sq m. Further, most of the small annual variations in the emitted longwave have been shown to be real. To obtain this measurement accuracy, the wide-field-of-view (WFOV) Earth-viewing channels 12 (0.2 to over 50 micrometers), 13 (0.2 to 3.8 micrometers), and 14 (0.7 to 2.8 micrometers) have been characterized in their satellite environment to account for signal variations not considered in the prelaunch calibration equations. Calibration adjustments have been derived for (1) extraterrestrial radiation incident on the detectors, (2) long-term degradation of the sensors, and (3) thermal perturbations within the ERB instrument. The first item is important in all the channels; the second, mainly in channels 13 and 14, and the third, only in channels 13 and 14. The Sun is used as a stable calibration source to monitor the long-term degradation of the various channels. Channel 12, which is reasonably stable to both thermal perturbations and sensor degradation, is used as a reference and calibration transfer agent for the drifting sensitivities of the filtered channels 13 and 14. Redundant calibration procedures were utilized. Laboratory studies complemented analyses of the satellite data. Two nearly independent models were derived to account for the thermal perturbations in channels 13 and 14. The global annual mean terrestrial shortwave and longwave signals proved stable enough to act as secondary calibration sources. Instantaneous measurements may still, at times, be in error by as much as a few Wm(exp -2), but the long-term averages are stable to within a fraction of a Wm(exp -2).

Construction of a Matched Global Cloud and Radiance Product from LEO/GEO and EPIC Observations to Estimate Daytime Earth Radiation Budget from DSCOVR

Science.gov (United States)

Duda, D. P.; Khlopenkov, K. V.; Palikonda, R.; Khaiyer, M. M.; Minnis, P.; Su, W.; Sun-Mack, S.

2016-12-01

With the launch of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), new estimates of the daytime Earth radiation budget can computed from a combination of measurements from the two Earth-observing sensors onboard the spacecraft, the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR). Although these instruments can provide accurate top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance measurements, they lack sufficient resolution to provide details on small-scale surface and cloud properties. Previous studies have shown that these properties have a strong influence on the anisotropy of the radiation at the TOA, and ignoring such effects can result in large TOA-flux errors. To overcome these effects, high-resolution scene identification is needed for accurate Earth radiation budget estimation. Selected radiance and cloud property data measured and derived from several low earth orbit (LEO, including NASA Terra and Aqua MODIS, NOAA AVHRR) and geosynchronous (GEO, including GOES (east and west), METEOSAT, INSAT-3D, MTSAT-2, and HIMAWARI-8) satellite imagers were collected to create hourly 5-km resolution global composites of data necessary to compute angular distribution models (ADM) for reflected shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) radiation. The satellite data provide an independent source of radiance measurements and scene identification information necessary to construct ADMs that are used to determine the daytime Earth radiation budget. To optimize spatial matching between EPIC measurements and the high-resolution composite cloud properties, LEO/GEO retrievals within the EPIC fields of view (FOV) are convolved to the EPIC point spread function (PSF) in a similar manner to the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Single Scanner Footprint TOA/Surface Fluxes and Clouds (SSF) product. Examples of the merged LEO/GEO/EPIC product will be presented, describing the chosen radiance and cloud properties and

Construction of a Matched Global Cloud and Radiance Product from LEO/GEO and EPIC Observations to Estimate Daytime Earth Radiation Budget from DSCOVR

Science.gov (United States)

Duda, David P.; Khlopenkov, Konstantin V.; Thiemann, Mandana; Palikonda, Rabindra; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Minnis, Patrick; Su, Wenying

2016-01-01

With the launch of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), new estimates of the daytime Earth radiation budget can be computed from a combination of measurements from the two Earth-observing sensors onboard the spacecraft, the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR). Although these instruments can provide accurate top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance measurements, they lack sufficient resolution to provide details on small-scale surface and cloud properties. Previous studies have shown that these properties have a strong influence on the anisotropy of the radiation at the TOA, and ignoring such effects can result in large TOA-flux errors. To overcome these effects, high-resolution scene identification is needed for accurate Earth radiation budget estimation. Selected radiance and cloud property data measured and derived from several low earth orbit (LEO, including NASA Terra and Aqua MODIS, NOAA AVHRR) and geosynchronous (GEO, including GOES (east and west), METEOSAT, INSAT-3D, MTSAT-2, and HIMAWARI-8) satellite imagers were collected to create hourly 5-km resolution global composites of data necessary to compute angular distribution models (ADM) for reflected shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) radiation. The satellite data provide an independent source of radiance measurements and scene identification information necessary to construct ADMs that are used to determine the daytime Earth radiation budget. To optimize spatial matching between EPIC measurements and the high-resolution composite cloud properties, LEO/GEO retrievals within the EPIC fields of view (FOV) are convolved to the EPIC point spread function (PSF) in a similar manner to the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Single Scanner Footprint TOA/Surface Fluxes and Clouds (SSF) product. Examples of the merged LEO/GEO/EPIC product will be presented, describing the chosen radiance and cloud properties and

The RAVAN CubeSat Mission: A Pathfinder for a New Measurement of Earth's Radiation Budget

Science.gov (United States)

Swartz, W.; Lorentz, S. R.; Huang, P. M.; Smith, A. W.; Deglau, D.; Reynolds, E.; Carvo, J.; Papadakis, S.; Wu, D. L.; Wiscombe, W. J.; Dyrud, L. P.

2016-12-01

The Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes (RAVAN) CubeSat is a pathfinder for a constellation to measure the Earth's radiation imbalance (ERI), which is the single most important quantity for predicting the course of climate change over the next century. RAVAN demonstrates a small, accurate radiometer that measures top-of-the-atmosphere Earth-leaving fluxes of total and solar-reflected radiation. Coupled with knowledge of the incoming radiation from the Sun, a constellation of such measurements would aim to determine ERI directly. Our objective with RAVAN is to establish that a compact radiometer that is absolutely calibrated to climate accuracy can be built and operated in space for low cost. The radiometer, hosted on a 3U CubeSat, relies on two key technologies. The first is the use of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) as the radiometer absorber. VACNT forests are some of the blackest materials known and have an extremely flat spectral response over a wide wavelength range. The second key technology is a gallium fixed-point blackbody calibration source, embedded in RAVAN's sensor head contamination cover, that serves as a stable and repeatable reference to track the long-term degradation of the sensor. Absolute calibration is also maintained by regular solar and deep space views. We present the scientific motivation for the NASA-funded mission, design and characterization of the spacecraft, and mission operations concept. Pending a successful launch in fall 2016, we will also present the first results on-orbit. RAVAN will help enable the development of an Earth radiation budget constellation mission that can provide the measurements needed for superior predictions of future climate change.

Radiation budget measurement/model interface research

Science.gov (United States)

Vonderhaar, T. H.

1981-01-01

The NIMBUS 6 data were analyzed to form an up to date climatology of the Earth radiation budget as a basis for numerical model definition studies. Global maps depicting infrared emitted flux, net flux and albedo from processed NIMBUS 6 data for July, 1977, are presented. Zonal averages of net radiation flux for April, May, and June and zonal mean emitted flux and net flux for the December to January period are also presented. The development of two models is reported. The first is a statistical dynamical model with vertical and horizontal resolution. The second model is a two level global linear balance model. The results of time integration of the model up to 120 days, to simulate the January circulation, are discussed. Average zonal wind, meridonal wind component, vertical velocity, and moisture budget are among the parameters addressed.

Use of a GCM to Explore Sampling Issues in Connection with Satellite Remote Sensing of the Earth Radiation Budget

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, Laura D.; Wielicki, Bruce A.; Randall, David A.; Branson, Mark D.; Gibson, Gary G.; Denn, Fredrick M.

2000-01-01

Collocated in time and space, top-of-the-atmosphere measurements of the Earth radiation budget (ERB) and cloudiness from passive scanning radiometers, and lidar- and radar-in-space measurements of multilayered cloud systems, are the required combination to improve our understanding of the role of clouds and radiation in climate. Experiments to fly multiple satellites "in formation" to measure simultaneously the radiative and optical properties of overlapping cloud systems are being designed. Because satellites carrying ERB experiments and satellites carrying lidars- or radars-in space have different orbital characteristics, the number of simultaneous measurements of radiation and clouds is reduced relative to the number of measurements made by each satellite independently. Monthly averaged coincident observations of radiation and cloudiness are biased when compared against more frequently sampled observations due, in particular, to the undersampling of their diurnal cycle, Using the Colorado State University General Circulation Model (CSU GCM), the goal of this study is to measure the impact of using simultaneous observations from the Earth Observing System (EOS) platform and companion satellites flying lidars or radars on monthly averaged diagnostics of longwave radiation, cloudiness, and its cloud optical properties. To do so, the hourly varying geographical distributions of coincident locations between the afternoon EOS (EOS-PM) orbit and the orbit of the ICESAT satellite set to fly at the altitude of 600 km, and between the EOS PM orbit and the orbits of the PICASSO satellite proposed to fly at the altitudes of 485 km (PICA485) or 705 km (PICA705), are simulated in the CSU GCM for a 60-month time period starting at the idealistic July 1, 2001, launch date. Monthly averaged diagnostics of the top-of-the-atmosphere, atmospheric, and surface longwave radiation budgets and clouds accumulated over grid boxes corresponding to satellite overpasses are compared against

Long-term global distribution of earth's shortwave radiation budget at the top of atmosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Hatzianastassiou

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The mean monthly shortwave (SW radiation budget at the top of atmosphere (TOA was computed on 2.5° longitude-latitude resolution for the 14-year period from 1984 to 1997, using a radiative transfer model with long-term climatological data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP-D2 supplemented by data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction – National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR Global Reanalysis project, and other global data bases such as TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS and Global Aerosol Data Set (GADS. The model radiative fluxes at TOA were validated against Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE S4 scanner satellite data (1985–1989. The model is able to predict the seasonal and geographical variation of SW TOA fluxes. On a mean annual and global basis, the model is in very good agreement with ERBE, overestimating the outgoing SW radiation at TOA (OSR by 0.93 Wm-2 (or by 0.92%, within the ERBE uncertainties. At pixel level, the OSR differences between model and ERBE are mostly within ±10 Wm-2, with ±5 Wm-2 over extended regions, while there exist some geographic areas with differences of up to 40 Wm-2, associated with uncertainties in cloud properties and surface albedo. The 14-year average model results give a planetary albedo equal to 29.6% and a TOA OSR flux of 101.2 Wm-2. A significant linearly decreasing trend in OSR and planetary albedo was found, equal to 2.3 Wm-2 and 0.6% (in absolute values, respectively, over the 14-year period (from January 1984 to December 1997, indicating an increasing solar planetary warming. This planetary SW radiative heating occurs in the tropical and sub-tropical areas (20° S–20° N, with clouds being the most likely cause. The computed global mean OSR anomaly ranges within ±4 Wm-2, with signals from El Niño and La Niña events or Pinatubo eruption, whereas significant negative OSR anomalies, starting from year 1992, are also

Observational evidence for the impact of jet condensation trails upon the earths radiation budget

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meinert, D. [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH (Germany). Inst. fuer Atmosphaerenphysik

1997-12-31

Jet condensation trails have been classified in AVHRR images from a couple of month. It was tried to estimate their impact upon the radiation budget from the observed radiances. This has been performed by direct comparison of contrail image points to neighboring image points, assuming a slowly varying background. The classification method, basing on an artificial neural network for pattern recognition is explained. The details of the estimation of the net impact of contrails upon the radiation budget are shown by one example. (author) 5 refs.

Observational evidence for the impact of jet condensation trails upon the earths radiation budget

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meinert, D [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH (Germany). Inst. fuer Atmosphaerenphysik

1998-12-31

Jet condensation trails have been classified in AVHRR images from a couple of month. It was tried to estimate their impact upon the radiation budget from the observed radiances. This has been performed by direct comparison of contrail image points to neighboring image points, assuming a slowly varying background. The classification method, basing on an artificial neural network for pattern recognition is explained. The details of the estimation of the net impact of contrails upon the radiation budget are shown by one example. (author) 5 refs.

Surface radiation budget in the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) effort and in the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX)

Science.gov (United States)

Charlock, Thomas P.; Smith, G. L.; Rose, Fred G.

1990-01-01

The surface radiation budget (SRB) and the atmospheric radiative flux divergence (ARD) are vital components of the weather and climate system. The importance of radiation in a complex international scientific endeavor, the GEWEX of the World Climate Research Programme is explained. The radiative transfer techniques and satellite instrumentation that will be used to retrieve the SRB and ARD later in this decade with the CERES are discussed; CERES is a component of the Earth Observing System satellite program. Examples of consistent SRB and ARD retrievals made with Nimbus-7 and International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data from July 1983 are presented.

ISLSCP II Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) Radiation Data

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: This data set contains global Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) and a few top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiation budget parameters on a 1-degree x 1-degree spatial...

Explaining Earths Energy Budget: CERES-Based NASA Resources for K-12 Education and Public Outreach

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, L. H.; Bethea, K.; Marvel, M. T.; Ruhlman, K.; LaPan, J.; Lewis, P.; Madigan, J.; Oostra, D.; Taylor, J.

2014-01-01

Among atmospheric scientists, the importance of the Earth radiation budget concept is well understood. Papers have addressed the topic for over 100 years, and the large Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) science team (among others), with its multiple on-orbit instruments, is working hard to quantify the details of its various parts. In education, Earth's energy budget is a concept that generally appears in middle school and Earth science curricula, but its treatment in textbooks leaves much to be desired. Students and the public hold many misconceptions, and very few people have an appreciation for the importance of this energy balance to the conditions on Earth. More importantly, few have a correct mental model that allows them to make predictions and understand the effect of changes such as increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. As an outreach element of the core CERES team at NASA Langley, a multi-disciplinary group of scientists, educators, graphic artists, writers, and web developers has been developing and refining graphics and resources to explain the Earth's Energy budget over the last few decades. Resources have developed through an iterative process involving ongoing use in front of a variety of audiences, including students and teachers from 3rd to 12th grade as well as public audiences.

Development of multi-sensor global cloud and radiance composites for earth radiation budget monitoring from DSCOVR

Science.gov (United States)

Khlopenkov, Konstantin; Duda, David; Thieman, Mandana; Minnis, Patrick; Su, Wenying; Bedka, Kristopher

2017-10-01

The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) enables analysis of the daytime Earth radiation budget via the onboard Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR). Radiance observations and cloud property retrievals from low earth orbit and geostationary satellite imagers have to be co-located with EPIC pixels to provide scene identification in order to select anisotropic directional models needed to calculate shortwave and longwave fluxes. A new algorithm is proposed for optimal merging of selected radiances and cloud properties derived from multiple satellite imagers to obtain seamless global hourly composites at 5-km resolution. An aggregated rating is employed to incorporate several factors and to select the best observation at the time nearest to the EPIC measurement. Spatial accuracy is improved using inverse mapping with gradient search during reprojection and bicubic interpolation for pixel resampling. The composite data are subsequently remapped into EPIC-view domain by convolving composite pixels with the EPIC point spread function defined with a half-pixel accuracy. PSF-weighted average radiances and cloud properties are computed separately for each cloud phase. The algorithm has demonstrated contiguous global coverage for any requested time of day with a temporal lag of under 2 hours in over 95% of the globe.

Radiation Budget Instrument (RBI) for JPSS-2

Science.gov (United States)

Georgieva, Elena; Priestley, Kory; Dunn, Barry; Cageao, Richard; Barki, Anum; Osmundsen, Jim; Turczynski, Craig; Abedin, Nurul

2015-01-01

Radiation Budget Instrument (RBI) will be one of five instruments flying aboard the JPSS-2 spacecraft, a polar-orbiting sun-synchronous satellite in Low Earth Orbit. RBI is a passive remote sensing instrument that will follow the successful legacy of the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instruments to make measurement of Earth's short and longwave radiation budget. The goal of RBI is to provide an independent measurement of the broadband reflected solar radiance and Earth's emitted thermal radiance by using three spectral bands (Shortwave, Longwave, and Total) that will have the same overlapped point spread function (PSF) footprint on Earth. To ensure precise NIST-traceable calibration in space the RBI sensor is designed to use a visible calibration target (VCT), a solar calibration target (SCT), and an infrared calibration target (ICT) containing phase change cells (PCC) to enable on-board temperature calibration. The VCT is a thermally controlled integrating sphere with space grade Spectralon covering the inner surface. Two sides of the sphere will have fiber-coupled laser diodes in the UV to IR wavelength region. An electrical substitution radiometer on the integrating sphere will monitor the long term stability of the sources and the possible degradation of the Spectralon in space. In addition the radiometric calibration operations will use the Spectralon diffusers of the SCT to provide accurate measurements of Solar degradation. All those stable on-orbit references will ensure that calibration stability is maintained over the RBI sensor lifetime. For the preflight calibration the RBI will view five calibration sources - two integrating spheres and three CrIS (Cross-track Infrared Sounder ) -like blackbodies whose outputs will be validated with NIST calibration approach. Thermopile are the selected detectors for the RBI. The sensor has a requirement to perform lunar calibration in addition to solar calibration in space in a way similar to CERES

Radiation budget measurement/model interface

Science.gov (United States)

Vonderhaar, T. H.; Ciesielski, P.; Randel, D.; Stevens, D.

1983-01-01

This final report includes research results from the period February, 1981 through November, 1982. Two new results combine to form the final portion of this work. They are the work by Hanna (1982) and Stevens to successfully test and demonstrate a low-order spectral climate model and the work by Ciesielski et al. (1983) to combine and test the new radiation budget results from NIMBUS-7 with earlier satellite measurements. Together, the two related activities set the stage for future research on radiation budget measurement/model interfacing. Such combination of results will lead to new applications of satellite data to climate problems. The objectives of this research under the present contract are therefore satisfied. Additional research reported herein includes the compilation and documentation of the radiation budget data set a Colorado State University and the definition of climate-related experiments suggested after lengthy analysis of the satellite radiation budget experiments.

Entropy budget of the earth,atmosphere and ocean system

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

GAN Zijun; YAN Youfangand; QI Yiquan

2004-01-01

The energy budget in the system of the earth, atmosphere and ocean conforms to the first law of thermodynamics, namely the law of conservation of energy, and it is balanced when the system is in a steady-state condition. However, the entropy budget following the second law of thermodynamics is unbalanced. In this paper, we deduce the expressions of entropy flux and re-estimate the earth, atmosphere and ocean annual mean entropy budget with the updated climatologically global mean energy budget and the climatologically air-sea flux data. The calculated results show that the earth system obtains a net influx of negative entropy (-1179.3 mWm-2K-1) from its surroundings, and the atmosphere and the ocean systems obtain a net input of negative entropy at about -537.4 mWm-2K-1 and -555.6 mWm-2K-1, respectively. Calculations of the entropy budget can provide some guidance for further understanding the spatial-temporal change of the local entropy flux, and the entropy production resulting from all kinds of irreversible processes inside these systems.

Quasi-real-time monitoring of SW radiation budget using geostationary satellite for Climate study and Renewable energy. (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Takenaka, H.; Nakajima, T. Y.; Kuze, H.; Takamura, T.; Pinker, R. T.; Nakajima, T.

2013-12-01

Solar radiation is the only source of energy that drives the weather and climate of the Earth's surface. Earth is warmed by incoming solar radiation, and emitted energy to space by terrestrial radiation due to its temperature. It has been kept to the organisms viable environment by the effect of heating and cooling. Clouds can cool the Earth by reflecting solar radiation and also can keep the Earth warm by absorbing and emitting terrestrial radiation. They are important in the energy balance at the Earth surface and the Top of the Atmosphere (TOA) and are connected complicatedly into the Earth system as well as other climate feedback processes. Thus it is important to estimate Earth's radiation budget for better understanding of climate and environmental change. We have shared several topics related to climate change. Energy issues close to the climate change, it is an environmental problems. Photovoltaics is one of the power generation method to converts from solar radiation to electric power directly. It does not emit greenhouse gases during power generation. Similarly, drainage, exhaust, vibration does not emit. PV system can be distributed as a small power supply in urban areas and it can installed to near the power demand points. Also solar thermal is heat generator with high efficiency. Therefor it is an effective energy source that the solar power is expected as one of the mitigation of climate change (IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation). It is necessary to real-time-monitoring of the surface solar radiation for safety operation of electric power system. We introduce a fusion analysis of renewable energy and Quasi-real-time analysis of SW radiation budget. Sample of estimated PV power mapping using geostationary satellite.

Energy Budget: Earth's Most Important and Least Appreciated Planetary Attribute

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, Lin; Bethea, Katie

2013-01-01

The energy budget involves more than one kind of energy. People can sense this energy in different ways, depending on what type of energy it is. We see visible light using our eyes. We feel infrared energy using our skin (such as around a campfire). We know some species of animals can see ultraviolet light and portions of the infrared spectrum. NASA satellites use instruments that can "see" different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum to observe various processes in the Earth system, including the energy budget. The Sun is a very hot ball of plasma emitting large amounts of energy. By the time it reaches Earth, this energy amounts to about 340 Watts for every square meter of Earth on average. That's almost 6 60-Watt light bulbs for every square meter of Earth! With all of that energy shining down on the Earth, how does our planet maintain a comfortable balance that allows a complex ecosystem, including humans, to thrive? The key thing to remember is the Sun - hot though it is - is a tiny part of Earth's environment. Earth's energy budget is a critical but little understood aspect of our planetary home. NASA is actively studying this important Earth system feature, and sharing data and knowledge about it with the education community.

Thermal Orbital Environmental Parameter Study on the Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System (ProSEDS) Using Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) Data

Science.gov (United States)

Sharp, John R.; McConnaughey, Paul K. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The natural thermal environmental parameters used on the Space Station Program (SSP 30425) were generated by the Space Environmental Effects Branch at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) utilizing extensive data from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE), a series of satellites which measured low earth orbit (LEO) albedo and outgoing long-wave radiation. Later, this temporal data was presented as a function of averaging times and orbital inclination for use by thermal engineers in NASA Technical Memorandum TM 4527. The data was not presented in a fashion readily usable by thermal engineering modeling tools and required knowledge of the thermal time constants and infrared versus solar spectrum sensitivity of the hardware being analyzed to be used properly. Another TM was recently issued as a guideline for utilizing these environments (NASA/TM-2001-211221) with more insight into the utilization by thermal analysts. This paper gives a top-level overview of the environmental parameters presented in the TM and a study of the effects of implementing these environments on an ongoing MSFC project, the Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System (ProSEDS), compared to conventional orbital parameters that had been historically used.

Nimbus-7 Earth radiation budget calibration history. Part 1: The solar channels

Science.gov (United States)

Kyle, H. Lee; Hoyt, Douglas V.; Hickey, John R.; Maschhoff, Robert H.; Vallette, Brenda J.

1993-01-01

The Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) experiment on the Nimbus-7 satellite measured the total solar irradiance plus broadband spectral components on a nearly daily basis from 16 Nov. 1978, until 16 June 1992. Months of additional observations were taken in late 1992 and in 1993. The emphasis is on the electrically self calibrating cavity radiometer, channel 10c, which recorded accurate total solar irradiance measurements over the whole period. The spectral channels did not have inflight calibration adjustment capabilities. These channels can, with some additional corrections, be used for short-term studies (one or two solar rotations - 27 to 60 days), but not for long-term trend analysis. For channel 10c, changing radiometer pointing, the zero offsets, the stability of the gain, the temperature sensitivity, and the influences of other platform instruments are all examined and their effects on the measurements considered. Only the question of relative accuracy (not absolute) is examined. The final channel 10c product is also compared with solar measurements made by independent experiments on other satellites. The Nimbus experiment showed that the mean solar energy was about 0.1 percent (1.4 W/sqm) higher in the excited Sun years of 1979 and 1991 than in the quiet Sun years of 1985 and 1986. The error analysis indicated that the measured long-term trends may be as accurate as +/- 0.005 percent. The worse-case error estimate is +/- 0.03 percent.

The earth's radiation budget and its relation to atmospheric hydrology. I - Observations of the clear sky greenhouse effect. II - Observations of cloud effects

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Graeme L.; Greenwald, Thomas J.

1991-01-01

The clear-sky components of the earth's radiation budget (ERB), the relationship of these components to the sea surface temperature (SST), and microwave-derived water-vapor amount are analyzed in an observational study along with the relationship between the cloudy-sky components of ERB and space/time coincident observations of SST, microwave-derived cloud liquid water, and cloud cover. The purpose of the study is to use these observations for establishing an understanding of the couplings between radiation and the atmosphere that are important to understanding climate feedback. A strategy for studying the greenhouse effect of earth by analyzing the emitted clear-sky longwave flux over the ocean is proposed. It is concluded that the largest observed influence of clouds on ERB is more consistent with macrophysical properties of clouds as opposed to microphysical properties. The analysis for clouds and the greenhouse effect of clouds is compared quantitatively with the clear sky results. Land-ocean differences and tropical-midlatitude differences are shown and explained in terms of the cloud macrostructure.

Radiation budget changes with dry forest clearing in temperate Argentina.

Science.gov (United States)

Houspanossian, Javier; Nosetto, Marcelo; Jobbágy, Esteban G

2013-04-01

Land cover changes may affect climate and the energy balance of the Earth through their influence on the greenhouse gas composition of the atmosphere (biogeochemical effects) but also through shifts in the physical properties of the land surface (biophysical effects). We explored how the radiation budget changes following the replacement of temperate dry forests by crops in central semiarid Argentina and quantified the biophysical radiative forcing of this transformation. For this purpose, we computed the albedo and surface temperature for a 7-year period (2003-2009) from MODIS imagery at 70 paired sites occupied by native forests and crops and calculated the radiation budget at the tropopause and surface levels using a columnar radiation model parameterized with satellite data. Mean annual black-sky albedo and diurnal surface temperature were 50% and 2.5 °C higher in croplands than in dry forests. These contrasts increased the outgoing shortwave energy flux at the top of the atmosphere in croplands by a quarter (58.4 vs. 45.9 W m(-2) ) which, together with a slight increase in the outgoing longwave flux, yielded a net cooling of -14 W m(-2) . This biophysical cooling effect would be equivalent to a reduction in atmospheric CO2 of 22 Mg C ha(-1) , which involves approximately a quarter to a half of the typical carbon emissions that accompany deforestation in these ecosystems. We showed that the replacement of dry forests by crops in central Argentina has strong biophysical effects on the energy budget which could counterbalance the biogeochemical effects of deforestation. Underestimating or ignoring these biophysical consequences of land-use changes on climate will certainly curtail the effectiveness of many warming mitigation actions, particularly in semiarid regions where high radiation load and smaller active carbon pools would increase the relative importance of biophysical forcing. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Global Observations of Aerosols and Clouds from Combined Lidar and Passive Instruments to Improve Radiation Budget and Climate Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Winker, David M.

1999-01-01

Current uncertainties in the effects of clouds and aerosols on the Earth radiation budget limit our understanding of the climate system and the potential for global climate change. Pathfinder Instruments for Cloud and Aerosol Spaceborne Observations - Climatologie Etendue des Nuages et des Aerosols (PICASSO-CENA) is a recently approved satellite mission within NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program which will address these uncertainties with a unique suite of active and passive instruments. The Lidar In-space Technology Experiment (LITE) demonstrated the potential benefits of space lidar for studies of clouds and aerosols. PICASSO-CENA builds on this experience with a payload consisting of a two-wavelength polarization-sensitive lidar, an oxygen A-band spectrometer (ABS), an imaging infrared radiometer (IIR), and a wide field camera (WFC). Data from these instruments will be used to measure the vertical distributions of aerosols and clouds in the atmosphere, as well as optical and physical properties of aerosols and clouds which influence the Earth radiation budget. PICASSO-CENA will be flown in formation with the PM satellite of the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) to provide a comprehensive suite of coincident measurements of atmospheric state, aerosol and cloud optical properties, and radiative fluxes. The mission will address critical uncertainties iin the direct radiative forcing of aerosols and clouds as well as aerosol influences on cloud radiative properties and cloud-climate radiation feedbacks. PICASSO-CENA is planned for a three year mission, with a launch in early 2003. PICASSO-CENA is being developed within the framework of a collaboration between NASA and CNES.

User's guide: Nimbus-7 Earth radiation budget narrow-field-of-view products. Scene radiance tape products, sorting into angular bins products, and maximum likelihood cloud estimation products

Science.gov (United States)

Kyle, H. Lee; Hucek, Richard R.; Groveman, Brian; Frey, Richard

1990-01-01

The archived Earth radiation budget (ERB) products produced from the Nimbus-7 ERB narrow field-of-view scanner are described. The principal products are broadband outgoing longwave radiation (4.5 to 50 microns), reflected solar radiation (0.2 to 4.8 microns), and the net radiation. Daily and monthly averages are presented on a fixed global equal area (500 sq km), grid for the period May 1979 to May 1980. Two independent algorithms are used to estimate the outgoing fluxes from the observed radiances. The algorithms are described and the results compared. The products are divided into three subsets: the Scene Radiance Tapes (SRT) contain the calibrated radiances; the Sorting into Angular Bins (SAB) tape contains the SAB produced shortwave, longwave, and net radiation products; and the Maximum Likelihood Cloud Estimation (MLCE) tapes contain the MLCE products. The tape formats are described in detail.

The effect of clouds on the earth's solar and infrared radiation budgets

Science.gov (United States)

Herman, G. F.; Wu, M.-L. C.; Johnson, W. T.

1980-01-01

The effect of global cloudiness on the solar and infrared components of the earth's radiation balance is studied in general circulation model experiments. A wintertime simulation is conducted in which the cloud radiative transfer calculations use realistic cloud optical properties and are fully interactive with model-generated cloudiness. This simulation is compared to others in which the clouds are alternatively non-interactive with respect to the solar or thermal radiation calculations. Other cloud processes (formation, latent heat release, precipitation, vertical mixing) were accurately simulated in these experiments. It is concluded that on a global basis clouds increase the global radiation balance by 40 W/sq m by absorbing longwave radiation, but decrease it by 56 W/sq m by reflecting solar radiation to space. The net cloud effect is therefore a reduction of the radiation balance by 16 W/sq m, and is dominated by the cloud albedo effect. Changes in cloud frequency and distribution and in atmospheric and land temperatures are also reported for the control and for the non-interactive simulations. In general, removal of the clouds' infrared absorption cools the atmosphere and causes additional cloudiness to occur, while removal of the clouds' solar radiative properties warms the atmosphere and causes fewer clouds to form. It is suggested that layered clouds and convective clouds over water enter the climate system as positive feedback components, while convective clouds over land enter as negative components.

Developing an Earth system Inverse model for the Earth's energy and water budgets.

Science.gov (United States)

Haines, K.; Thomas, C.; Liu, C.; Allan, R. P.; Carneiro, D. M.

2017-12-01

The CONCEPT-Heat project aims at developing a consistent energy budget for the Earth system in order to better understand and quantify global change. We advocate a variational "Earth system inverse" solution as the best methodology to bring the necessary expertise from different disciplines together. L'Ecuyer et al (2015) and Rodell et al (2015) first used a variational approach to adjust multiple satellite data products for air-sea-land vertical fluxes of heat and freshwater, achieving closed budgets on a regional and global scale. However their treatment of horizontal energy and water redistribution and its uncertainties was limited. Following the recent work of Liu et al (2015, 2017) which used atmospheric reanalysis convergences to derive a new total surface heat flux product from top of atmosphere fluxes, we have revisited the variational budget approach introducing a more extensive analysis of the role of horizontal transports of heat and freshwater, using multiple atmospheric and ocean reanalysis products. We find considerable improvements in fluxes in regions such as the North Atlantic and Arctic, for example requiring higher atmospheric heat and water convergences over the Arctic than given by ERA-Interim, thereby allowing lower and more realistic oceanic transports. We explore using the variational uncertainty analysis to produce lower resolution corrections to higher resolution flux products and test these against in situ flux data. We also explore the covariance errors implied between component fluxes that are imposed by the regional budget constraints. Finally we propose this as a valuable methodology for developing consistent observational constraints on the energy and water budgets in climate models. We take a first look at the same regional budget quantities in CMIP5 models and consider the implications of the differences for the processes and biases active in the models. Many further avenues of investigation are possible focused on better valuing

Greater future global warming inferred from Earth's recent energy budget.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Patrick T; Caldeira, Ken

2017-12-06

Climate models provide the principal means of projecting global warming over the remainder of the twenty-first century but modelled estimates of warming vary by a factor of approximately two even under the same radiative forcing scenarios. Across-model relationships between currently observable attributes of the climate system and the simulated magnitude of future warming have the potential to inform projections. Here we show that robust across-model relationships exist between the global spatial patterns of several fundamental attributes of Earth's top-of-atmosphere energy budget and the magnitude of projected global warming. When we constrain the model projections with observations, we obtain greater means and narrower ranges of future global warming across the major radiative forcing scenarios, in general. In particular, we find that the observationally informed warming projection for the end of the twenty-first century for the steepest radiative forcing scenario is about 15 per cent warmer (+0.5 degrees Celsius) with a reduction of about a third in the two-standard-deviation spread (-1.2 degrees Celsius) relative to the raw model projections reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Our results suggest that achieving any given global temperature stabilization target will require steeper greenhouse gas emissions reductions than previously calculated.

GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget (SRB)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) Release-3.0 data sets contains global 3-hourly, daily, monthly/3-hourly, and monthly averages of surface and top-of...

Reactor safety and radiation protection. Draft of the BMU deparmental budget 16 of the 1998 German federal budget

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1997-01-01

The expenditures earmarked for reactor safety and radiation protection in the 1998 budget of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Reactor Safety (BMU) total DM 101 million. The expenditures of the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) are to amount to a total of DM 579 million. These are the figures included in departmental budget 16 of the 1998 federal budget, which was discussed by the Federal Parliament in September 1997. The atw compilation singles out a number of significant items of the departmental budget. (orig.) [de

Future Flight Opportunities and Calibration Protocols for CERES: Continuation of Observations in Support of the Long-Term Earth Radiation Budget Climate Data Record

Science.gov (United States)

Priestley, Kory J.; Smith, George L.

2010-01-01

The goal of the Clouds and the Earth s Radiant Energy System (CERES) project is to provide a long-term record of radiation budget at the top-of-atmosphere (TOA), within the atmosphere, and at the surface with consistent cloud and aerosol properties at climate accuracy. CERES consists of an integrated instrument-algorithm validation science team that provides development of higher-level products (Levels 1-3) and investigations. It involves a high level of data fusion, merging inputs from 25 unique input data sources to produce 18 CERES data products. Over 90% of the CERES data product volume involves two or more instruments. Continuation of the Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) Climate Data Record (CDR) has been identified as critical in the 2007 NRC Decadal Survey, the Global Climate Observing System WCRP report, and in an assessment titled Impacts of NPOESS Nunn-McCurdy Certification on Joint NASA-NOAA Climate Goals . Five CERES instruments have flown on three different spacecraft: TRMM, EOS-Terra and EOS-Aqua. In response, NASA, NOAA and NPOESS have agreed to fly the existing CERES Flight Model (FM-5) on the NPP spacecraft in 2011 and to procure an additional CERES Sensor with modest upgrades for flight on the JPSS C1 spacecraft in 2014, followed by a CERES follow-on sensor for flight in 2018. CERES is a scanning broadband radiometer that measures filtered radiance in the SW (0.3-5 m), total (TOT) (0.3-200 m) and WN (8-12 m) regions. Pre-launch calibration is performed on each Flight Model to meet accuracy requirements of 1% for SW and 0.5% for outgoing LW observations. Ground to flight or in-flight changes are monitored using protocols employing onboard and vicarious calibration sources. Studies of flight data show that SW response can change dramatically due to optical contamination. with greatest impact in blue-to UV radiance, where tungsten lamps are largely devoid of output. While science goals remain unchanged for ERB Climate Data Record, it is now understood

The Sun-earth Imbalance radiometer for a direct measurement of the net heating of the earth

Science.gov (United States)

Dewitte, Steven; Karatekin, Özgür; Chevalier, Andre; Clerbaux, Nicolas; Meftah, Mustapha; Irbah, Abdanour; Delabie, Tjorven

2015-04-01

It is accepted that the climate on earth is changing due to a radiative energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere, up to now this radiation imbalance has not been measured directly. The measurement is challenging both in terms of space-time sampling of the radiative energy that is leaving the earth and in terms of accuracy. The incoming solar radiation and the outgoing terrestrial radiation are of nearly equal magnitude - of the order of 340 W/m² - resulting in a much smaller difference or imbalance of the order of 1 W/m². The only way to measure the imbalance with sufficient accuracy is to measure both the incoming solar and the outgoing terrestrial radiation with the same instrument. Based on our 30 year experience of measuring the Total Solar Irradiance with the Differential Absolute RADiometer (DIARAD) type of instrument and on our 10 year experience of measuring the Earth Radiation Budget with the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) instrument on Meteosat Second Generation, we propose an innovative constellation of Sun-earth IMBAlance (SIMBA) radiometer cubesats with the ultimate goal to measure the Sun-earth radiation imbalance. A first Simba In Orbit Demonstration satellite is scheduled for flight with QB50 in 2015. It is currently being developed as ESA's first cubesat through an ESA GSTP project. In this paper we will give an overview of the Simba science objectives and of the current satellite and payload development status.

Radiation environment of the earth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furukawa, Masahide

2003-01-01

The radiation environment of the earth consists of natural and artificial radiation. This paper explains the distribution and some exposure examples of natural radiation and the relation between life and natural radiation. The earth was born before about 46 hundreds of millions of years. In the present earth, there are some natural radiations with long half-life originated by the earth. They are 232 Th (141 hundreds of millions of years of half-life), 238 U (45 hundreds of millions of years of half-life) and 40 K (13 hundreds of millions of years of half-life). Natural radiation (α-, β-, and γ-ray) from natural radionuclides exists everywhere in the earth. Natural radio nuclides are heat source of the earth, which is about 0.035 μcal/g/y. γ-ray from them is called as ''the earth's crust γ-ray'', which is about 55 nGy/h average of the world and about 50 nGy/h in Japan. The distribution of γ-ray is depended on the kinds of soil and rock. 222 Rn and 230 Rn are rare gases and the concentration of them in a room is larger than outside. Natural radiations originated from the cosmos are proton, ionizing components, neutron component with muon and electron, 3 H, 14 C and 10 Be. Effect of cosmic rays on birth of life, change of temperature, amount of cloud and ultra resistant cell are stated. (S.Y.)

Spatiotemporal Variability of Earth's Radiation Balance Components from Russian Radiometer IKOR-M

Science.gov (United States)

Cherviakov, M.

2016-12-01

The radiometer IKOR-M was created in National Research Saratov State University for satellite monitoring of the outgoing reflected short-wave radiation, which is one of the components of Earth's radiation budget. Such information can be used in different models of long-term weather forecasts, in researches of climate change trends and in calculation of absorbed solar radiation values and albedo of the Earth-atmosphere system. The IKOR-M product archive is available online at all times. A searchable catalogue of data products is continually updated and users may search and download data products via the Earth radiation balance components research laboratory website as soon as they become available. Two series of measurements from two different IKOR-M are available. The first radiometer had worked from October 2009 to August 2014 and second - from August 2014 to the present. Therefore, there is a period when both radiometers work at the same time. Top-of-atmosphere fluxes deduced from the "Meteor-M" No 1 measurement in August, 2014 show very good agreement with the fluxes determined from "Meteor-M" No 2. The scale relationship of the IKOR-M radiometers on "Meteor - M" No 1 and No 2 satellites found by comparing of the global distribution maps for monthly averaged albedo values. The seasonal and interannual variations of OSR, albedo and ASR were discussed. The variations between SW radiation budget components seem to be within observational uncertainty and natural variability governed by cloudiness, water vapor and aerosol variations. It was assessed spatial and temporal variations of albedo and the absorbed solar radiation over different regions. Latitudinal distributions of albedo and ASR were estimated in more detail. Meridional cross sections over oceans and land were used separately for this estimation. It was shown that the albedo and ASR data received from the radiometer IKOR-M can be used to detect El Nino in the Pacific Ocean. The reported study was funded by

The impact of Earth system feedbacks on carbon budgets and climate response

Science.gov (United States)

Lowe, Jason A.; Bernie, Daniel

2018-05-01

A number of studies have examined the size of the allowable global cumulative carbon budget compatible with limiting twenty-first century global average temperature rise to below 2°C and below 1.5°C relative to pre-industrial levels. These estimates of cumulative emissions have a number of uncertainties including those associated with the climate sensitivity and the global carbon cycle. Although the IPCC fifth assessment report contained information on a range of Earth system feedbacks, such as carbon released by thawing of permafrost or methane production by wetlands as a result of climate change, the impact of many of these Earth system processes on the allowable carbon budgets remains to be quantified. Here, we make initial estimates to show that the combined impact from typically unrepresented Earth system processes may be important for the achievability of limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C above pre-industrial levels. The size of the effects range up to around a 350 GtCO2 budget reduction for a 1.5°C warming limit and around a 500 GtCO2 reduction for achieving a warming limit of 2°C. Median estimates for the extra Earth system forcing lead to around 100 GtCO2 and 150 GtCO2, respectively, for the two warming limits. Our estimates are equivalent to several years of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions at present rates. In addition to the likely reduction of the allowable global carbon budgets, the extra feedbacks also bring forward the date at which a given warming threshold is likely to be exceeded for a particular emission pathway. This article is part of the theme issue `The Paris Agreement: understanding the physical and social challenges for a warming world of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels'.

The impact of Earth system feedbacks on carbon budgets and climate response.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowe, Jason A; Bernie, Daniel

2018-05-13

A number of studies have examined the size of the allowable global cumulative carbon budget compatible with limiting twenty-first century global average temperature rise to below 2°C and below 1.5°C relative to pre-industrial levels. These estimates of cumulative emissions have a number of uncertainties including those associated with the climate sensitivity and the global carbon cycle. Although the IPCC fifth assessment report contained information on a range of Earth system feedbacks, such as carbon released by thawing of permafrost or methane production by wetlands as a result of climate change, the impact of many of these Earth system processes on the allowable carbon budgets remains to be quantified. Here, we make initial estimates to show that the combined impact from typically unrepresented Earth system processes may be important for the achievability of limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C above pre-industrial levels. The size of the effects range up to around a 350 GtCO 2 budget reduction for a 1.5°C warming limit and around a 500 GtCO 2 reduction for achieving a warming limit of 2°C. Median estimates for the extra Earth system forcing lead to around 100 GtCO 2 and 150 GtCO 2 , respectively, for the two warming limits. Our estimates are equivalent to several years of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions at present rates. In addition to the likely reduction of the allowable global carbon budgets, the extra feedbacks also bring forward the date at which a given warming threshold is likely to be exceeded for a particular emission pathway.This article is part of the theme issue 'The Paris Agreement: understanding the physical and social challenges for a warming world of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels'. © 2018 The Author(s).

3D modeling of satellite spectral images, radiation budget and energy budget of urban landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Gastellu-Etchegorry, J. P.

2008-12-01

DART EB is a model that is being developed for simulating the 3D (3 dimensional) energy budget of urban and natural scenes, possibly with topography and atmosphere. It simulates all non radiative energy mechanisms (heat conduction, turbulent momentum and heat fluxes, water reservoir evolution, etc.). It uses DART model (Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer) for simulating radiative mechanisms: 3D radiative budget of 3D scenes and their remote sensing images expressed in terms of reflectance or brightness temperature values, for any atmosphere, wavelength, sun/view direction, altitude and spatial resolution. It uses an innovative multispectral approach (ray tracing, exact kernel, discrete ordinate techniques) over the whole optical domain. This paper presents two major and recent improvements of DART for adapting it to urban canopies. (1) Simulation of the geometry and optical characteristics of urban elements (houses, etc.). (2) Modeling of thermal infrared emission by vegetation and urban elements. The new DART version was used in the context of the CAPITOUL project. For that, districts of the Toulouse urban data base (Autocad format) were translated into DART scenes. This allowed us to simulate visible, near infrared and thermal infrared satellite images of Toulouse districts. Moreover, the 3D radiation budget was used by DARTEB for simulating the time evolution of a number of geophysical quantities of various surface elements (roads, walls, roofs). Results were successfully compared with ground measurements of the CAPITOUL project.

Short Wave Part of Earth's Energy Budget at Top of Atmosphere During 2009-2017 from Radiometer IKOR-M Data

Science.gov (United States)

Cherviakov, M.; Spiryakhina, A.; Surkova, Y.; Kulkova, E.; Shishkina, E.

2017-12-01

This report describes Earth's energy budget IKOR-M satellite program which has been started in Russia. The first satellite "Meteor-M" No 1 of this project was put into orbit in 2009. The IKOR-M radiometer is a satellite instrument which can measure reflected shortwave radiation (0.3-4.0 µm). It was created in Saratov University and installed on Russian meteorological satellites "Meteor-M" No 1 and No 2. IKOR-M designed for satellite monitoring of the outgoing short-wave radiation at top-of-atmosphere (TOA), which is one of the components of Earth's energy budget. Such measurements can be used to derive albedo and absorbed solar radiation at TOA. The basic products of data processing are given in the form of global maps of distribution outgoing short-wave radiation, albedo and absorbed solar radiation (ASR). Such maps were made for each month during observation period. The IKOR-M product archive is available online at all times. A searchable catalogue of data products is continually updated and users may search and download data products via the Earth radiation balance components research laboratory website (www.sgu.ru/structure/geographic/metclim/balans) as soon as they become available. Two series of measurements from two different IKOR-M are available. The first radiometer had worked from October 2009 to August 2014 and second - from August 2014 to the present. Therefore, there is a period when both radiometers work at the same time. Top-of-atmosphere fluxes deduced from the "Meteor-M" No 1 measurements in August 2014 show very good agreement with the fluxes determined from "Meteor-M" No 2. It was shown that the albedo and ASR data received from the radiometer IKOR-M can be used to detect El Nino in the Pacific Ocean. During the radiometer operation, there were two significant El Nino events. Spatial-temporal distribution of the albedo in the equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean was analyzed. Region with high albedo values of 35-40 % is formed in the region 180E

Daily Radiation Budget of the Baltic Sea Surface from Satellite Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zapadka Tomasz

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Recently developed system for assessment of radiation budget for the Baltic Sea has been presented and verified. The system utilizes data from various sources: satellite, model and in situ measurements. It has been developed within the SatBałtyk project (Satellite Monitoring of the Baltic Sea Environment - www.satbaltyk.eu where the energy radiation budget is one of the key element. The SatBałtyk system generates daily maps of the all components of radiation budget on every day basis. We show the scheme of making daily maps, applied algorithms and empirical data collection within the system. An empirical verification of the system has been carried out based on empirical data collected on the oil rig placed on the Baltic Sea. This verification concerned all the components of the surface radiation budget. The average daily NET products are estimated with statistical error ca. 13 Wm-2. The biggest absolute statistical error is for LWd component and equals 14 Wm-2. The relative error in relation to the average annual values for whole Baltic is the biggest for SWu and reaches 25%. All estimated components have correlation coefficient above 0.91.

The impact of cloud inhomogeneities on the Earth radiation budget: the 14 October 1989 I.C.E. convective cloud case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Parol

1994-01-01

Full Text Available Through their multiple interactions with radiation, clouds have an important impact on the climate. Nonetheless, the simulation of clouds in climate models is still coarse. The present evolution of modeling tends to a more realistic representation of the liquid water content; thus the problem of its subgrid scale distribution is crucial. For a convective cloud field observed during ICE 89, Landsat TM data (resolution: 30m have been analyzed in order to quantify the respective influences of both the horizontal distribution of liquid water content and cloud shape on the Earth radiation budget. The cloud field was found to be rather well-represented by a stochastic distribution of hemi-ellipsoidal clouds whose horizontal aspect ratio is close to 2 and whose vertical aspect ratio decreases as the cloud cell area increases. For that particular cloud field, neglecting the influence of the cloud shape leads to an over-estimate of the outgoing longwave flux; in the shortwave, it leads to an over-estimate of the reflected flux for high solar elevations but strongly depends on cloud cell orientations for low elevations. On the other hand, neglecting the influence of cloud size distribution leads to systematic over-estimate of their impact on the shortwave radiation whereas the effect is close to zero in the thermal range. The overall effect of the heterogeneities is estimated to be of the order of 10 W m-2 for the conditions of that Landsat picture (solar zenith angle 65°, cloud cover 70%; it might reach 40 W m-2 for an overhead sun and overcast cloud conditions.

The impact of cloud inhomogeneities on the Earth radiation budget: the 14 October 1989 I.C.E. convective cloud case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Parol

Full Text Available Through their multiple interactions with radiation, clouds have an important impact on the climate. Nonetheless, the simulation of clouds in climate models is still coarse. The present evolution of modeling tends to a more realistic representation of the liquid water content; thus the problem of its subgrid scale distribution is crucial. For a convective cloud field observed during ICE 89, Landsat TM data (resolution: 30m have been analyzed in order to quantify the respective influences of both the horizontal distribution of liquid water content and cloud shape on the Earth radiation budget. The cloud field was found to be rather well-represented by a stochastic distribution of hemi-ellipsoidal clouds whose horizontal aspect ratio is close to 2 and whose vertical aspect ratio decreases as the cloud cell area increases. For that particular cloud field, neglecting the influence of the cloud shape leads to an over-estimate of the outgoing longwave flux; in the shortwave, it leads to an over-estimate of the reflected flux for high solar elevations but strongly depends on cloud cell orientations for low elevations. On the other hand, neglecting the influence of cloud size distribution leads to systematic over-estimate of their impact on the shortwave radiation whereas the effect is close to zero in the thermal range. The overall effect of the heterogeneities is estimated to be of the order of 10 W m^-2 for the conditions of that Landsat picture (solar zenith angle 65°, cloud cover 70%; it might reach 40 W m^-2 for an overhead sun and overcast cloud conditions.

The Near-Earth Space Radiation Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Xapsos, Michael

2008-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the effects of the Near-Earth space radiation environment on NASA missions. Included in this presentation is a review of The Earth s Trapped Radiation Environment, Solar Particle Events, Galactic Cosmic Rays and Comparison to Accelerator Facilities.

Continental Ice Sheets and the Planetary Radiation Budget

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oerlemans, J.

1980-01-01

The interaction between continental ice sheets and the planetary radiation budget is potentially important in climate-sensitivity studies. A simple ice-sheet model incorporated in an energybalance climate model provides a tool for studying this interaction in a quantitative way. Experiments in which

Radiation budget in green beans crop with and without polyethylene cover

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza, J.L. de; Escobedo, J.F.

1997-01-01

The radiation budget in agricultural crops is very important on the microclimate characterization, on the water losses determination and on dry matter accumulation of vegetation. This work describes the radiation budget determination in a green beans crop (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), in Botucatu, SP, Brazil (22° 54′S; 48° 27′W; 850 m), under two different conditions: the normal field culture and in a polyethylene greenhouse. The densities of fluxes of radiation were used to construct diurnal curves of the components of global radiation (Rg), reflected radiation (Rr), net radiation (Rn).The arithmetic's relations allowed to obtain the components net short-waves (Rc) and net long-waves (Rl). The analysis of these components related to the leaf area index (LAI) in many phenological phases of the culture showed Rg distributed in 68%, 85%, 17% and 66%, 76%, 10% to Rn, Rc and Rl in the internal and external ambients in a polyethylene greenhouse, respectively [pt

Analysis of the radiation budget in regional climate simulations with COSMO-CLM for Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steffen Kothe

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This study analysed two regional climate simulations for Africa regarding the radiation budgets with particular focus on the contribution of potentially influential parameters on uncertainties in the radiation components. The ERA-Interim driven simulations have been performed with the COSMO-CLM (grid-spacings of 0.44 ° or 0.22 °. The simulated budgets were compared to the satellite-based Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment Surface Radiation Budget and ERA-Interim data sets. The COSMO-CLM tended to underestimate the net solar radiation and the outgoing long-wave radiation, and showed a regionally varying over- or underestimation in all budget components. An increase in horizontal resolution from 0.44 ° to 0.22 ° slightly reduced the mean errors by up to 5 %. Especially over sea regions, uncertainties in cloud fraction were the main influencing parameter on errors in the simulated radiation fluxes. Compared to former simulations the introduction of a new bare soil albedo treatment reduced the influence of uncertainties in surface albedo significantly. Over the African continent errors in aerosol optical depth and skin temperature were regionally important sources for the discrepancies within the simulated radiation. In a sensitivity test it was shown that the use of aerosol optical depth values from the MACC reanalysis product improved the simulated surface radiation substantially.

Clouds and the earth's radiation balance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmetz, J; Raschke, E

1986-01-01

Cloud formation mechanisms and cloud effects must be known for all regions of the earth for two important purposes of weather and climate research: First, the circulation characteristics of the atmosphere can be defined and understood only if the energy transfer between the atmosphere and the earth's surface is known; secondly, the energy transfer calculations should be as realistic as possible. The article discusses the influence of clouds on the radiation balance of the earth/atmosphere radiation balance, and the effects on weather and climate.

Surface Radiation Budget (SURFRAD) Network 1-Hour Observations

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Radiation measurements at SURFRAD stations cover the range of the electromagnetic spectrum that affects the earth/atmosphere system. Direct solar radiation is...

Nimbus-7 Solar and Earth Flux Data in Native Binary Format

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The NIMBUS7_ERB_SEFDT data set is the Solar and Earth Flux Data Tape (SEFDT) generated from Nimbus-7 Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) instrument data. The main purpose...

Earth's radiation belts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moslehi Fard, M.

1984-01-01

The theory of trapped particles in a magnetic field of approximated dipole is described completely in the first part. Second part contains experimental results. The mechanism of radiation belt source ''albedo neutrons'' and also types of dissipation mechanism about radiation belt is explained. The trapped protons and electrons by radiation belt is discussed and the life-time of trapped particles are presented. Finally the magnetic fields of Moon, Venus, Mars, and Saturn, measured by passengers Mariner 4,10 and pioneer 10,11 are indicated. The experimental and theoretical results for the explanation of trapped plasma around the earth which is looked like two internal and external belt have almost good correspondence

Effects of aerosol/cloud interactions on the global radiation budget

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chuang, C.C.; Penner, J.E.

1994-01-01

Aerosols may modify the microphysics of clouds by acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), thereby enhancing the cloud reflectivity. Aerosols may also alter precipitation development by affecting the mean droplet size, thereby influencing cloud lifetimes and modifying the hydrological cycle. Clouds have a major effect on climate, but aerosol/cloud interactions have not been accounted for in past climate model simulations. However, the worldwide steady rise of global pollutants and emissions makes it imperative to investigate how atmospheric aerosols affect clouds and the global radiation budget. In this paper, the authors examine the relationship between aerosol and cloud drop size distributions by using a detailed micro-physical model. They parameterize the cloud nucleation process in terms of local aerosol characteristics and updraft velocity for use in a coupled climate/chemistry model to predict the magnitude of aerosol cloud forcing. Their simulations indicate that aerosol/cloud interactions may result in important increases in reflected solar radiation, which would mask locally the radiative forcing from increased greenhouse gases. This work is aimed at improving the assessment of the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on cloud optical properties and the global radiation budget

Radiation aspects on the Earth's surface during solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mansurov, K.Zh.; Aitmukhambetov, A.A.

2002-01-01

In the paper the results of investigation of radiation solution in the space near the Earth at the different altitudes of the Earth atmosphere and at the ground level in dependence on geo-coordinates and solar activity during 1957-1999 are presented. Radiation is due to the Galactic cosmic ray flux for different periods of the Solar activity: - the radiation doses of the radioactive clouds at latitudes ∼12-13 km which go ground the Earth two or three times were created; - it seems to years that these clouds make a certain contribution to the ecological situation in the Earth atmosphere and on the surface. The radiation near ground level of the Earth for the last 1500 years was calculated also using the data of radioactive carbon 14 C intensity investigation

Workshop Report on Managing Solar Radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Lane, Lee (Compiler); Caldeira, Ken (Compiler); Chatfield, Robert (Compiler); Langhoff, Stephanie (Compiler)

2007-01-01

The basic concept of managing Earth's radiation budget is to reduce the amount of incoming solar radiation absorbed by the Earth so as to counterbalance the heating of the Earth that would otherwise result from the accumulation of greenhouse gases. The workshop did not seek to decide whether or under what circumstances solar radiation management should be deployed or which strategies or technologies might be best, if it were deployed. Rather, the workshop focused on defining what kinds of information might be most valuable in allowing policy makers more knowledgeably to address the various options for solar radiation management.

Penetrating Shortwave Radiation and Sea Ice Algae feedbacks using the Community Earth System Model

Science.gov (United States)

Arntsen, A. E.; Perovich, D. K.; Bailey, D. A.; Holland, M. M.

2017-12-01

Transmittance of solar radiation through the sea ice cover determines energy transfer to the upper ocean in the form of heat as well as photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) available for the growth of under ice phytoplankton and bottom ice algal communities. A thinning ice cover, increased pond coverage, and earlier melt onset has increased light availability to the upper ocean in contemporary Arctic ice-covered waters. To investigate seasonal and spatial variability of solar shortwave irradiance penetrating the ice cover in the Beaufort and Chukchi Sea regions, we use the fully coupled Community Earth System Model (CESM) in conjunction with a multistream radiative transfer model constrained and initiated by in situ observations. Results inform the importance of light attenuation by ice-based algal pigments within large scale global climate models. We demonstrate the presence of bio-optical feedbacks related to a younger ice cover and examine how these relationships are impacting the trajectory of under ice blooms and the energy budget of the ice-ocean system.

Conference on Atmospheric Radiation, 7th, San Francisco, CA, July 23-27, 1990, Preprints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1990-01-01

The present conference on atmospheric radiation discusses the Cirrus experiment, cloud climatologies, the earth radiation budget, the surface radiation budget, remote sensing, radiative transfer, arctic clouds and aerosols, and clouds and radiation. Attention is given to the results of the FIRE Marine Stratocumulus Observations, cirrus cloud properties derived from satellite radiances during FIRE, the dimension of a cloud's boundary, and satellite observations of cirrus clouds. Topics addressed include the seasonal variation of the diurnal cycles of the earth's radiation budget determined from ERBE, estimation of the outgoing longwave flux from NOAA AVHRR satellite observations, a comparison of observed and modeled longwave radiances, and climate monitoring using radiative entropy from ERB observations. Also discussed are approximations to the diffuse radiative properties of cloud layers, the greenhouse potential of other trace gases relative to CO2, global surface albedos estimated from ERBE data, and the energy exchange in a tropical rain forest

High spatial resolution radiation budget for Europe: derived from satellite data, validation of a regional model; Raeumlich hochaufgeloeste Strahlungsbilanz ueber Europa: Ableitung aus Satellitendaten, Validation eines regionalen Modells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hollmann, R. [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH (Germany). Inst. fuer Atmosphaerenphysik

2000-07-01

Since forty years instruments onboard satellites have been demonstrated their usefulness for many applications in the field of meteorology and oceanography. Several experiments, like ERBE, are dedicated to establish a climatology of the global Earth radiation budget at the top of the atmosphere. Now the focus has been changed to the regional scale, e.g. GEWEX with its regional sub-experiments like BALTEX. To obtain a regional radiation budget for Europe in the first part of the work the well calibrated measurements from ScaRaB (scanner for radiation budget) are used to derive a narrow-to-broadband conversion, which is applicable to the AVHRR (advanced very high resolution radiometer). It is shown, that the accuracy of the method is in the order of that from SCaRaB itself. In the second part of the work, results of REMO have been compared with measurements of ScaRaB and AVHRR for March 1994. The model reproduces the measurements overall well, but it is overestimating the cold areas and underestimating the warm areas in the longwave spectral domain. Similarly it is overestimating the dark areas and underestimating the bright areas in the solar spectral domain. (orig.)

Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Journal of Earth System Science. C B S Dutt. Articles written in Journal of Earth System Science. Volume 117 Issue S1 July 2008 pp 243-262. Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB): An overview · K Krishna Moorthy S K Satheesh S Suresh Babu C B S Dutt · More Details ...

A study of Monte Carlo radiative transfer through fractal clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gautier, C.; Lavallec, D.; O`Hirok, W.; Ricchiazzi, P. [Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)] [and others

1996-04-01

An understanding of radiation transport (RT) through clouds is fundamental to studies of the earth`s radiation budget and climate dynamics. The transmission through horizontally homogeneous clouds has been studied thoroughly using accurate, discreet ordinates radiative transfer models. However, the applicability of these results to general problems of global radiation budget is limited by the plane parallel assumption and the fact that real clouds fields show variability, both vertically and horizontally, on all size scales. To understand how radiation interacts with realistic clouds, we have used a Monte Carlo radiative transfer model to compute the details of the photon-cloud interaction on synthetic cloud fields. Synthetic cloud fields, generated by a cascade model, reproduce the scaling behavior, as well as the cloud variability observed and estimated from cloud satellite data.

Radiative budget and cloud radiative effect over the Atlantic from ship-based observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Kalisch

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to determine cloud-type resolved cloud radiative budgets and cloud radiative effects from surface measurements of broadband radiative fluxes over the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, based on simultaneous observations of the state of the cloudy atmosphere, a radiative closure study has been performed by means of the ECHAM5 single column model in order to identify the model's ability to realistically reproduce the effects of clouds on the climate system.

An extensive database of radiative and atmospheric measurements has been established along five meridional cruises of the German research icebreaker Polarstern. Besides pyranometer and pyrgeometer for downward broadband solar and thermal radiative fluxes, a sky imager and a microwave radiometer have been utilized to determine cloud fraction and cloud type on the one hand and temperature and humidity profiles as well as liquid water path for warm non-precipitating clouds on the other hand.

Averaged over all cruise tracks, we obtain a total net (solar + thermal radiative flux of 144 W m⁻² that is dominated by the solar component. In general, the solar contribution is large for cirrus clouds and small for stratus clouds. No significant meridional dependencies were found for the surface radiation budgets and cloud effects. The strongest surface longwave cloud effects were shown in the presence of low level clouds. Clouds with a high optical density induce strong negative solar radiative effects under high solar altitudes. The mean surface net cloud radiative effect is −33 W m⁻².

For the purpose of quickly estimating the mean surface longwave, shortwave and net cloud effects in moderate, subtropical and tropical climate regimes, a new parameterisation was created, considering the total cloud amount and the solar zenith angle.

The ECHAM5 single column model provides a surface net cloud effect that is more

Near-Earth Space Radiation Models

Science.gov (United States)

Xapsos, Michael A.; O'Neill, Patrick M.; O'Brien, T. Paul

2012-01-01

Review of models of the near-Earth space radiation environment is presented, including recent developments in trapped proton and electron, galactic cosmic ray and solar particle event models geared toward spacecraft electronics applications.

Radiation closure and diurnal cycle of the clear-sky dust instantaneous direct radiative forcing over Arabian Peninsula

KAUST Repository

Osipov, Sergey; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.; Brindley,  Helen; Banks,  Jamie

2015-01-01

Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) aerosol optical depth. Results are compared with Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) derived top of the atmosphere climatological forcing over the Red Sea.

Radiation Database for Earth and Mars Entry

Science.gov (United States)

2008-11-17

state which mainly determines its polarizability . ∆r2 = r2u− r2l is the difference between Radiation Database for Earth and Mars Entry RTO-EN-AVT...NO A← X (0,0) band in the presence of argon and nitrogen. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 47:375–390, 1992. Radiation

Solar influence on Earth's climate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marsh, N.; Svensmark, Henrik

2003-01-01

An increasing number of studies indicate that variations in solar activity have had a significant influence on Earth's climate. However, the mechanisms responsible for a solar influence are still not known. One possibility is that atmospheric transparency is influenced by changing cloud properties...... and thereby influence the radiative properties of clouds. If the GCR-Cloud link is confirmed variations in galactic cosmic ray flux, caused by changes in solar activity and the space environment, could influence Earth's radiation budget....... via cosmic ray ionisation (the latter being modulated by solar activity). Support for this idea is found from satellite observations of cloud cover. Such data have revealed a striking correlation between the intensity of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and low liquid clouds (

A Predictor Analysis Framework for Surface Radiation Budget Reprocessing Using Design of Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Quigley, Patricia Allison

Earth's Radiation Budget (ERB) is an accounting of all incoming energy from the sun and outgoing energy reflected and radiated to space by earth's surface and atmosphere. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) project produces and archives long-term datasets representative of this energy exchange system on a global scale. The data are comprised of the longwave and shortwave radiative components of the system and is algorithmically derived from satellite and atmospheric assimilation products, and acquired atmospheric data. It is stored as 3-hourly, daily, monthly/3-hourly, and monthly averages of 1° x 1° grid cells. Input parameters used by the algorithms are a key source of variability in the resulting output data sets. Sensitivity studies have been conducted to estimate the effects this variability has on the output data sets using linear techniques. This entails varying one input parameter at a time while keeping all others constant or by increasing all input parameters by equal random percentages, in effect changing input values for every cell for every three hour period and for every day in each month. This equates to almost 11 million independent changes without ever taking into consideration the interactions or dependencies among the input parameters. A more comprehensive method is proposed here for the evaluating the shortwave algorithm to identify both the input parameters and parameter interactions that most significantly affect the output data. This research utilized designed experiments that systematically and simultaneously varied all of the input parameters of the shortwave algorithm. A D-Optimal design of experiments (DOE) was chosen to accommodate the 14 types of atmospheric properties computed by the algorithm and to reduce the number of trials required by a full factorial study from millions to 128. A modified version of the algorithm was made

Statistical theory for estimating sampling errors of regional radiation averages based on satellite measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, G. L.; Bess, T. D.; Minnis, P.

1983-01-01

The processes which determine the weather and climate are driven by the radiation received by the earth and the radiation subsequently emitted. A knowledge of the absorbed and emitted components of radiation is thus fundamental for the study of these processes. In connection with the desire to improve the quality of long-range forecasting, NASA is developing the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE), consisting of a three-channel scanning radiometer and a package of nonscanning radiometers. A set of these instruments is to be flown on both the NOAA-F and NOAA-G spacecraft, in sun-synchronous orbits, and on an Earth Radiation Budget Satellite. The purpose of the scanning radiometer is to obtain measurements from which the average reflected solar radiant exitance and the average earth-emitted radiant exitance at a reference level can be established. The estimate of regional average exitance obtained will not exactly equal the true value of the regional average exitance, but will differ due to spatial sampling. A method is presented for evaluating this spatial sampling error.

Radiation budget, soil heat flux and latent heat flux at the forest floor in warm, temperate mixed forest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamai, K.; Abe, T.; Araki, M.; Ito, H.

1998-01-01

Seasonal changes in the radiation budget and soil heat flux of a forest floor were measured in a mixed forest located in Kyoto, Japan. The basal area at breast height in the survey forest was about 15·82 m 2 ha −1 , for evergreen trees, and 12·46 m 2 ha −1 , for deciduous trees. The sky view factor was 16 and 22% at the survey site in the foliate and defoliate seasons, respectively. The small difference between the sky view factor in the two seasons was reflected in the seasonal change in the radiation budget of the forest floor. Namely, the net long-wave radiation changed rapidly in leafing and falling days, and the rate of net short-wave radiation was highest in April. The distinctive characteristic of the radiation budget was that the rates of available radiation in the daytime and at night were almost equal in September and October. Latent heat flux at the forest floor was estimated to be around 94 MJ m −2 annually, from our measurement with the simulation model. (author)

Earth as a radio source: terrestrial kilometric radiation. Progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gurnett, D.A.

1974-02-01

Radio wave experiments on the IMP-6 and 8 satellites have shown that the earth emits very intense electromagnetic radiation in the frequency range from about 50 kHz to 500 kHz. A peak intensity the total power emitted in this frequency range is about 1 billion watts. The earth is, therefore, a very intense planetary radio source, with a total power output comparable to the decametric radio emission from Jupiter. This radio emission from the earth is referred to as terrestrial kilometric radiation. Terrestrial kilometric radiation appears to originate from low altitudes (less than 3.0 Re) in the auroral region. Possible mechanisms which can explain the generation and propagation of the terrestrial kilometric radiation are discussed. (U.S.)

Radiation chemistry and origins of life on earth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zagorski, Z. P.

2001-01-01

The role of radiation chemical processes in prebiotic time of earth history and their influence on arise of organic life on Earth has been discussed. The formation of chiral compounds in prebiotic s oup' and its further evolution for creation of bioorganic molecules was also presented and discussed as an alternative of existing hypothesis of cosmic origin of biologic life in the Earth

Inversion of the Earth spherical albedo from radiation-pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkman, Olli; Herranen, Joonas; Näränen, Jyri; Virtanen, Jenni; Koivula, Hannu; Poutanen, Markku; Penttilä, Antti; Gritsevich, Maria; Muinonen, Karri

2017-04-01

We are studying the retrieval of the spherical albedo and net radiation of the Earth from the perturbations caused by the planet's radiation on the dynamics of its satellites. The spherical or Bond albedo gives the ratio of the fluxes incident on and scattered by the planet. The net radiation represents the net heat input into the planet's climate system and drives changes in its atmospheric, surface, and ocean temperatures. The ultimate aim of the study is inverting the problem and estimating the Earth albedo based on observations of satellites, simultaneously improving the space-geodetic positioning accuracy. Here we investigate the effect of the spherical albedo on satellite orbits with the help of a simplified model. We simulate the propagation of satellite orbits using a new simulation software. The simulation contains the main perturbing forces on medium and high Earth orbits, used by, e.g., navigation satellites, including the radiation pressure of reflected sunlight from the Earth. An arbitrary satellite shape model can be used, and the rotation of the satellite is modeled. In this first study, we use a box-wing satellite model with a simple surface BRDF. We also assume a diffusely reflecting Earth with a single global albedo value. We vary the Earth albedo and search for systematic effects on different orbits. Thereafter, we estimate the dependence of the albedo accuracy on the satellite positioning and timing data available. We show that the inversion of the spherical albedo with reasonable accuracy is feasible from the current space-geodetic measurements.

The Near-Earth Space Radiation for Electronics Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Stassinopoulos, E. G.; LaBel, K. A.

2004-01-01

The earth's space radiation environment is described in terms of: a) charged particles as relevant to effects on spacecraft electronics, b) the nature and distribution of trapped and transiting radiation, and c) their effect on electronic components.

Measuring Solar Radiation Incident on Earth: Solar Constant-3 (SOLCON-3)

Science.gov (United States)

Crommelynck, Dominique; Joukoff, Alexandre; Dewitte, Steven

2002-01-01

Life on Earth is possible because the climate conditions on Earth are relatively mild. One element of the climate on Earth, the temperature, is determined by the heat exchanges between the Earth and its surroundings, outer space. The heat exchanges take place in the form of electromagnetic radiation. The Earth gains energy because it absorbs solar radiation, and it loses energy because it emits thermal infrared radiation to cold space. The heat exchanges are in balance: the heat gained by the Earth through solar radiation equals the heat lost through thermal radiation. When the balance is perturbed, a temperature change and hence a climate change of the Earth will occur. One possible perturbation of the balance is the CO2 greenhouse effect: when the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere increases, this will reduce the loss of thermal infrared radiation to cold space. Earth will gain more heat and hence the temperature will rise. Another perturbation of the balance can occur through variation of the amount of energy emitted by the sun. When the sun emits more energy, this will directly cause a rise of temperature on Earth. For a long time scientists believed that the energy emitted by the sun was constant. The 'solar constant' is defined as the amount of solar energy received per unit surface at a distance of one astronomical unit (the average distance of Earth's orbit) from the sun. Accurate measurements of the variations of the solar constant have been made since 1978. From these we know that the solar constant varies approximately with the 11-year solar cycle observed in other solar phenomena, such as the occurrence of sunspots, dark spots that are sometimes visible on the solar surface. When a sunspot occurs on the sun, since the spot is dark, the radiation (light) emitted by the sun drops instantaneously. Oddly, periods of high solar activity, when a lot of sunspot numbers increase, correspond to periods when the average solar constant is high. This indicates that

Radiative effects of clouds and cryosphere in the Antarctic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takashi Yamanouchi

1997-03-01

Full Text Available Examination of the effects of clouds, ice sheet and sea ice on the radiation budget in the Antarctic using Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE data were reported. The continental ice sheet affects not only the albedo, but also the surface temperature because of elevation, and hence the OLR. Sea ice, which is a critical climate feedback factor, appears to have less impact on radiation than do clouds. However, these surfaces lie underneath clouds, and it was found that the independent effect of sea ice is as large as that of clouds, and clouds are masking the radiative effect of sea ice by more than half. The radiation budget at the top of the atmosphere from satellite observation and that at the surface from the surface radiation measurements at Syowa and South Pole Stations were compared. Cloud radiative forcing at both stations for the surface, atmosphere and top of the atmosphere was derived.

Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Journal of Earth System Science; Volume 109; Issue 2 ... Bay of Bengal Monsoon Experiment (BOBMEX) — A component of the Indian .... Diurnal variability of upper ocean temperature and heat budget in the ... While the former facilitates the trapping of radiation (greenhouse effect) the latter works in the ...

[Anthropogenic sources of radiation hazard in the near-Earth space].

Science.gov (United States)

Fedoseev, G A

2004-01-01

All plausible artificial radioactive sources entering the near-Earth space (NES) were systematized and consequences of various large radiation accidents and catastrophes to Earth and NES were analyzed. Aggressive "population" of near-Earth orbits by space stations with rotating crews, unmanned research platforms and observatories extends "borderlines" of the noosphere raising at the same time concerns about the noosphere radiation safety and global radioecology. Specifically, consideration is given to the facts of negative effects of space power reactor facilities on results of orbital astrophysical investigations.

Characteristic of the radiation field in low earth orbit and in deep space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reitz, Guenther

2008-01-01

The radiation exposure in space by cosmic radiation can be reduced through careful mission planning and constructive measures as example the provision of a radiation shelter, but it cannot be completely avoided. The reason for that are the extreme high energies of particles in this field and the herewith connected high penetration depth in matter. For missions outside the magnetosphere ionizing radiation is recognized as the key factor through its impact on crew health and performance. In absence of sporadic solar particle events the radiation exposure in Low Earth orbit (LEO) inside Spacecraft is determined by the galactic cosmic radiation (protons and heavier ions) and by the protons inside the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), an area where the radiation belt comes closer to the earth surface due to a displacement of the magnetic dipole axes from the Earth's center. In addition there is an albedo source of neutrons produced as interaction products of the primary galactic particles with the atoms of the earth atmosphere. Outside the spacecraft the dose is dominated by the electrons of the horns of the radiation belt located at about 60 latitude in Polar Regions. The radiation field has spatial and temporal variations in dependence of the Earth magnetic field and the solar cycle. The complexity of the radiation field inside a spacecraft is further increased through the interaction of the high energy components with the spacecraft shielding material and with the body of the astronauts. In interplanetary missions the radiation belt will be crossed in a couple of minutes and therefore its contribution to their radiation exposure is quite small, but subsequently the protection by the Earth magnetic field is lost, leaving only shielding measures as exposure reduction means. The report intends to describe the radiation field in space, the interaction of the particles with the magnetic field and shielding material and give some numbers on the radiation exposure in low earth

Characteristic of the radiation field in low Earth orbit and in deep space.

Science.gov (United States)

Reitz, Guenther

2008-01-01

The radiation exposure in space by cosmic radiation can be reduced through careful mission planning and constructive measures as example the provision of a radiation shelter, but it cannot be completely avoided. The reason for that are the extreme high energies of particles in this field and the herewith connected high penetration depth in matter. For missions outside the magnetosphere ionizing radiation is recognized as the key factor through its impact on crew health and performance. In absence of sporadic solar particle events the radiation exposure in Low Earth orbit (LEO) inside Spacecraft is determined by the galactic cosmic radiation (protons and heavier ions) and by the protons inside the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), an area where the radiation belt comes closer to the earth surface due to a displacement of the magnetic dipole axes from the Earth's center. In addition there is an albedo source of neutrons produced as interaction products of the primary galactic particles with the atoms of the earth atmosphere. Outside the spacecraft the dose is dominated by the electrons of the horns of the radiation belt located at about 60" latitude in Polar Regions. The radiation field has spatial and temporal variations in dependence of the Earth magnetic field and the solar cycle. The complexity of the radiation field inside a spacecraft is further increased through the interaction of the high energy components with the spacecraft shielding material and with the body of the astronauts. In interplanetary missions the radiation belt will be crossed in a couple of minutes and therefore its contribution to their radiation exposure is quite small, but subsequently the protection by the Earth magnetic field is lost, leaving only shielding measures as exposure reduction means. The report intends to describe the radiation field in space, the interaction of the particles with the magnetic field and shielding material and give some numbers on the radiation exposure in low earth

Urban Surface Radiative Energy Budgets Determined Using Aircraft Scanner Data

Science.gov (United States)

Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Quattrochi, Dale A.; Rickman, Doug L.; Estes, Maury G.; Arnold, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

the surface energy budget. Knowledge of it is important in any attempt to describe the radiative and mass fluxes which occur at the surface. Use of energy terms in modeling surface energy budgets allows the direct comparison of various land surfaces encountered in a urban landscape, from vegetated (forest and herbaceous) to non-vegetated (bare soil, roads, and buildings). These terms are also easily measured using remote sensing from aircraft or satellite platforms allowing one to examine the spacial variability. The partitioning of energy budget terms depends on the surface type. In natural landscapes, the partitioning is dependent on canopy biomass, leaf area index, aerodynamic roughness, and moisture status, all of which are influenced by the development stage of the ecosystem. In urban landscapes, coverage by man-made materials substantially alters the surface face energy budget. The remotely sensed data obtained from aircraft and satellites, when properly calibrated allows the measurement of important terms in the radiative surface energy budget a urban landscape scale.

Assessing the Impact of Earth Radiation Pressure Acceleration on Low-Earth Orbit Satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Vielberg, Kristin; Forootan, Ehsan; Lück, Christina; Kusche, Jürgen; Börger, Klaus

2017-04-01

The orbits of satellites are influenced by several external forces. The main non-gravitational forces besides thermospheric drag, acting on the surface of satellites, are accelerations due to the Earth and Solar Radiation Pres- sure (SRP and ERP, respectively). The sun radiates visible and infrared light reaching the satellite directly, which causes the SRP. Earth also emits and reflects the sunlight back into space, where it acts on satellites. This is known as ERP acceleration. The influence of ERP increases with decreasing distance to the Earth, and for low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites ERP must be taken into account in orbit and gravity computations. Estimating acceler- ations requires knowledge about energy emitted from the Earth, which can be derived from satellite remote sensing data, and also by considering the shape and surface material of a satellite. In this sensitivity study, we assess ERP accelerations based on different input albedo and emission fields and their modelling for the satellite missions Challenging Mini-Satellite Payload (CHAMP) and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). As input fields, monthly 1°x1° products of Clouds and the Earth's Radiant En- ergy System (CERES), L3 are considered. Albedo and emission models are generated as latitude-dependent, as well as in terms of spherical harmonics. The impact of different albedo and emission models as well as the macro model and the altitude of satellites on ERP accelerations will be discussed.

Global model simulations of the impact of ocean-going ships on aerosols, clouds, and the radiation budget

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Lauer

2007-10-01

Full Text Available International shipping contributes significantly to the fuel consumption of all transport related activities. Specific emissions of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO₂ per kg of fuel emitted are higher than for road transport or aviation. Besides gaseous pollutants, ships also emit various types of particulate matter. The aerosol impacts the Earth's radiation budget directly by scattering and absorbing the solar and thermal radiation and indirectly by changing cloud properties. Here we use ECHAM5/MESSy1-MADE, a global climate model with detailed aerosol and cloud microphysics to study the climate impacts of international shipping. The simulations show that emissions from ships significantly increase the cloud droplet number concentration of low marine water clouds by up to 5% to 30% depending on the ship emission inventory and the geographic region. Whereas the cloud liquid water content remains nearly unchanged in these simulations, effective radii of cloud droplets decrease, leading to cloud optical thickness increase of up to 5–10%. The sensitivity of the results is estimated by using three different emission inventories for present-day conditions. The sensitivity analysis reveals that shipping contributes to 2.3% to 3.6% of the total sulfate burden and 0.4% to 1.4% to the total black carbon burden in the year 2000 on the global mean. In addition to changes in aerosol chemical composition, shipping increases the aerosol number concentration, e.g. up to 25% in the size range of the accumulation mode (typically >0.1 μm over the Atlantic. The total aerosol optical thickness over the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Northeastern Pacific increases by up to 8–10% depending on the emission inventory. Changes in aerosol optical thickness caused by shipping induced modification of aerosol particle number concentration and chemical composition lead to a change in the shortwave radiation budget at the top of the

The Runaway Greenhouse Effect on Earth and other Planets

Science.gov (United States)

Rabbette, Maura; Pilewskie, Peter; McKay, Christopher; Young, Robert

2001-01-01

Water vapor is an efficient absorber of outgoing longwave infrared radiation on Earth and is the primary greenhouse gas. Since evaporation increases with increasing sea surface temperature, and the increase in water vapor further increases greenhouse warming, there is a positive feedback. The runaway greenhouse effect occurs if this feedback continues unchecked until all the water has left the surface and enters the atmosphere. For Mars and the Earth the runaway greenhouse was halted when water vapor became saturated with respect to ice or liquid water respectively. However, Venus is considered to be an example of a planet where the runaway greenhouse effect did occur, and it has been speculated that if the solar luminosity were to increase above a certain limit, it would also occur on the Earth. Satellite data acquired during the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) under clear sky conditions shows that as the sea surface temperature (SST) increases, the rate of outgoing infrared radiation at the top of the atmosphere also increases, as expected. Over the pacific warm pool where the SST exceeds 300 K the outgoing radiation emitted to space actually decreases with increasing SST, leading to a potentially unstable system. This behavior is a signature of the runaway greenhouse effect on Earth. However, the SST never exceeds 303K, thus the system has a natural cap which stops the runaway. According to Stefan-Boltzmann's law the amount of heat energy radiated by the Earth's surface is proportional to (T(sup 4)). However, if the planet has a substantial atmosphere, it can absorb all infrared radiation from the lower surface before the radiation penetrates into outer space. Thus, an instrument in space looking at the planet does not detect radiation from the surface. The radiation it sees comes from some level higher up. For the earth#s atmosphere the effective temperature (T(sub e)) has a value of 255 K corresponding to the middle troposphere, above most of the

The potential for collocated AGLP and ERBE data for fire, smoke, and radiation budget studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christopher, S.A.; Chou, J.

1997-01-01

One month of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Global Area Coverage (GAC) Land Pathfinder (AGLP) data from September 1985 are used to examine the spatial and temporal distribution of fires over four major ecosystems in South America. The Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) scanner data are used to examine the top of atmosphere (TOA) shortwave and longwave fluxes over smoke generated from biomass burn- ing. The relationship between the AGLP-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the ERBE-estimated clear sky albedos are also examined as a function of the four ecosystems. This study shows that the grassland areas in South America have the highest number of fires for September 1985, and their corresponding NDVI values are smaller than the tropical rainforest region where the number of fires were comparatively small. Clear sky statistics accumulated during the days when smoke was not present show that clear sky albedos derived from ERBE are higher for grassland areas when compared to the tropical rainforest. The results show that the AGLP can be used to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of fires along with vegetation characteristics, while ERBE data can provide necessary information on broadband albedos and regional top of atmosphere radiative impacts of biomass burning aerosols. Since the AGLP data are available from 1981 to the present day, several climate-related issues can be addressed

Radiation chemistry and origins of life on earth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zagorski, Z.P.

2002-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. Radiation chemistry is involved in mechanisms of origins of life on Earth in three aspects: 1. The formation of prebiotic 'soup' of organic compounds related to future life, 2. Possible role in formation of pure enantiomers of chiral compounds, 3. Role in rejection of hypothesis of Life transported from the outside worlds (Panspermia). As concerns 1, radiation chemistry explains better the formation of proper prebiotic 'soup' than Miller hypothesis of electric discharges in gaseous atmosphere. Radiation-induced reactions proceeded in liquid phase, also in the presence of solid state and as specific surface reactions, all at the ambient temperature. As concerns 2, radiation chemistry offers limited possibilities, but papers still are published to that effect and efforts are needed to tell facts from artifacts. As concerns 3, radiation chemistry and its cousin - radiobiology speak out definitively, that any transportation of life, even of low organisation, from the outer space is impossible. The main reason is irreversible dehydrogenation even at very low temperatures, during the travel lasting for years and light-years. The same applies in higher degree to the well organised life, making an appearance of 'ET' on Earth not likely. Even the manned travels to Mars and living in houses at the surface, can end with radiation sickness and premature death

The radiation budget of stratocumulus clouds measured by tethered balloon instrumentation: Variability of flux measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Duda, David P.; Stephens, Graeme L.; Cox, Stephen K.

1990-01-01

Measurements of longwave and shortwave radiation were made using an instrument package on the NASA tethered balloon during the FIRE Marine Stratocumulus experiment. Radiation data from two pairs of pyranometers were used to obtain vertical profiles of the near-infrared and total solar fluxes through the boundary layer, while a pair of pyrgeometers supplied measurements of the longwave fluxes in the cloud layer. The radiation observations were analyzed to determine heating rates and to measure the radiative energy budget inside the stratocumulus clouds during several tethered balloon flights. The radiation fields in the cloud layer were also simulated by a two-stream radiative transfer model, which used cloud optical properties derived from microphysical measurements and Mie scattering theory.

Dose budget for exposure control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nair, P.S.

1999-01-01

Dose budget is an important management tool to effectively control the collective dose incurred in a nuclear facility. The budget represents a set of yardsticks or guidelines for use in controlling the internal activities, involving radiation exposure in the organisation. The management, through budget can evaluate the radiation protection performance at every level of the organisation where a number of independent functional groups work on routine and non-routine jobs. The discrepancy between the plan and the actual performance is high lighted through the budgets. The organisation may have to change the course of its operation in a particular area or revise its plan with due focus on appropriate protective measures. (author)

Internal Charging Design Environments for the Earths Radiation Belts

Science.gov (United States)

Minow, Joseph I.; Edwards, David L.

2009-01-01

Relativistic electrons in the Earth's radiation belts are a widely recognized threat to spacecraft because they penetrate lightly shielded vehicle hulls and deep into insulating materials where they accumulate to sufficient levels to produce electrostatic discharges. Strategies for evaluating the magnitude of the relativistic electron flux environment and its potential for producing ESD events are varied. Simple "rule of thumb" estimates such as the widely used 10(exp 10) e-/sq cm fluence within 10 hour threshold for the onset of pulsing in dielectric materials provide a quick estimate of when to expect charging issues. More sophisticated strategies based on models of the trapped electron flux within the Earth s magnetic field provide time dependent estimates of electron flux along spacecraft orbits and orbit integrate electron flux. Finally, measurements of electron flux can be used to demonstrate mean and extreme relativistic electron environments. This presentation will evaluate strategies used to specify energetic electron flux and fluence environments along spacecraft trajectories in the Earth s radiation belts.

Measurement of solar radiation at the Earth's surface

Science.gov (United States)

Bartman, F. L.

1982-01-01

The characteristics of solar energy arriving at the surface of the Earth are defined and the history of solar measurements in the United States presented. Radiation and meteorological measurements being made at solar energy meteorological research and training sites and calibration procedures used there are outlined. Data illustrating the annual variation in daily solar radiation at Ann Arbor, Michigan and the diurnal variation in radiation at Albuquerque, New Mexico are presented. Direct normal solar radiation received at Albuquerque is contrasted with that received at Maynard, Massachusetts. Average measured global radiation for a period of one year for four locations under clear skies, 50% cloud cover, and 100% cloud cover is given and compared with the solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere. The May distribution of mean daily direct solar radiation and mean daily global solar radiation over the United States is presented. The effects of turbidity on the direct and circumsolar radiation are shown.

Impacts of Climate Change and Land use Changes on Land Surface Radiation and Energy Budgets

Science.gov (United States)

Land surface radiation and energy budgets are critical to address a variety of scientific and application issues related to climate trends, weather predictions, hydrologic and biogeophysical modeling, and the monitoring of ecosystem health and agricultural crops. This is an introductory paper to t...

Impact of biomass burning plume on radiation budget and atmospheric dynamics over the arctic

Science.gov (United States)

Lisok, Justyna; Pedersen, Jesper; Ritter, Christoph; Markowicz, Krzysztof M.; Malinowski, Szymon; Mazzola, Mauro; Udisti, Roberto; Stachlewska, Iwona S.

2018-04-01

The aim of the research was to determine the impact of July 2015 biomass burning event on radiative budget, atmospheric stratification and turbulence over the Arctic using information about the vertical structure of the aerosol load from the ground-based data. MODTRAN simulations indicated very high surface radiative cooling (forcing of -150 Wm-2) and a heating rate of up to 1.8 Kday-1 at 3 km. Regarding LES results, a turbulent layer at around 3 km was clearly seen after 48 h of simulation.

A note on India's water budget and evapotranspiration

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

An examination of the budget components indicates that they imply an evapo- transpiration estimate ... India; water budget; evapotranspiration; water policy; water management. J. Earth Syst. Sci. 117 ... L'Environment (2004). California. 0.41.

Dynamics of the earth's radiation belts and inner magnetosphere (geophysical monograph series)

CERN Document Server

2013-01-01

Dynamics of the Earth's Radiation Belts and Inner Magnetosphere draws together current knowledge of the radiation belts prior to the launch of Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RPSP) and other imminent space missions, making this volume timely and unique. The volume will serve as a useful benchmark at this exciting and pivotal period in radiation belt research in advance of the new discoveries that the RPSP mission will surely bring. Highlights include the following: a review of the current state of the art of radiation belt science; a complete and up-to-date account of the wave-particle interactions that control the dynamical acceleration and loss processes of particles in the Earth's radiation belts and inner magnetosphere; a discussion emphasizing the importance of the cross-energy coupling of the particle populations of the radiation belts, ring current, and plasmasphere in controlling the dynamics of the inner magnetosphe...

Impact of biomass burning plume on radiation budget and atmospheric dynamics over the arctic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisok Justyna

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the research was to determine the impact of July 2015 biomass burning event on radiative budget, atmospheric stratification and turbulence over the Arctic using information about the vertical structure of the aerosol load from the ground–based data. MODTRAN simulations indicated very high surface radiative cooling (forcing of –150 Wm–2 and a heating rate of up to 1.8 Kday–1 at 3 km. Regarding LES results, a turbulent layer at around 3 km was clearly seen after 48 h of simulation.

The Nimbus satellites - Pioneering earth observers

Science.gov (United States)

White, Carolynne

1990-01-01

The many scientific achievements of the Nimbus series of seven satellites for low-altitude atmospheric research and global weather surveillance are reviewed. The series provides information on fishery resources, weather modeling, atmospheric pollution monitoring, earth's radiation budget, ozone monitoring, ocean dynamics, and the effects of cloudiness. Data produced by the forty-eight instruments and sensors flown on the satellites are applied in the fields of oceanography, hydrology, geology, geomorphology, geography, cartography, agriculture and meteorology. The instruments include the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (which depicts phytoplankton concentrations in coastal areas), the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (which measures sea-surface temperatures and sea-surface wind-speed), and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (which provides information on total amounts of ozone in the earth's atmosphere).

Space radiation dosimetry in low-Earth orbit and beyond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benton, E.R.; Benton, E.V.

2001-01-01

Space radiation dosimetry presents one of the greatest challenges in the discipline of radiation protection. This is a result of both the highly complex nature of the radiation fields encountered in low-Earth orbit (LEO) and interplanetary space and of the constraints imposed by spaceflight on instrument design. This paper reviews the sources and composition of the space radiation environment in LEO as well as beyond the Earth's magnetosphere. A review of much of the dosimetric data that have been gathered over the last four decades of human space flight is presented. The different factors affecting the radiation exposures of astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are emphasized. Measurements made aboard the Mir Orbital Station have highlighted the importance of both secondary particle production within the structure of spacecraft and the effect of shielding on both crew dose and dose equivalent. Roughly half the dose on ISS is expected to come from trapped protons and half from galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). The dearth of neutron measurements aboard LEO spacecraft and the difficulty inherent in making such measurements have led to large uncertainties in estimates of the neutron contribution to total dose equivalent. Except for a limited number of measurements made aboard the Apollo lunar missions, no crew dosimetry has been conducted beyond the Earth's magnetosphere. At the present time we are forced to rely on model-based estimates of crew dose and dose equivalent when planning for interplanetary missions, such as a mission to Mars. While space crews in LEO are unlikely to exceed the exposure limits recommended by such groups as the NCRP, dose equivalents of the same order as the recommended limits are likely over the course of a human mission to Mars

Ocean heat content and Earth's radiation imbalance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Douglass, David H.; Knox, Robert S.

2009-01-01

Earth's radiation imbalance is determined from ocean heat content data and compared with results of direct measurements. Distinct time intervals of alternating positive and negative values are found: 1960-mid-1970s (-0.15), mid-1970s-2000 (+0.15), 2001-present (-0.2 W/m 2 ), and are consistent with prior reports. These climate shifts limit climate predictability.

Role of natural radiation environment in earth sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vohra, K.G.

1980-01-01

Natural ionizing radiations play an important role in a wide spectrum of earth sciences, including meteorology, geophysics, hydrology, atmospheric physics, and atmospheric chemistry. The nature and distribution of ionizing radiation sources and natural radionuclides in the atmospheric environment are summarized. The present status of the use of natural radioactive tracers for atmospheric studies is discussed. The effect of ionization produced by natural radiation sources on atmospheric electricity, the relationship of electrical and meteorological variables, and the possible effects of man-made releases of 85 Kr are considered. Experimental evidence is presented for the production of condensation nuclei by the combined effects of radon and sulfur dioxide

Effects of stratospheric perturbations on the solar radiation budget

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luther, F.M.

1978-04-01

The changes in solar absorption and in local heating rates due to perturbations to O 3 and NO 2 concentrations caused by stratospheric injection of NO/sub x/ and CFM pollutants are assessed. The changes in species concentration profiles are derived from theoretical calculations using a transport-kinetics model. Because of significant changes in our understanding of stratospheric chemistry during the past year, the assessment of the effect of stratospheric perturbations on the solar radiation budget differs from previous assessments. Previously, a reduction in O 3 due to an NO/sub x/ injection caused a net decrease in the gaseous solar absorption;now the same perturbation leads to a net increase. The implication of these changes on the surface temperature is also discussed

CERES Top-of-Atmosphere Earth Radiation Budget Climate Data Record: Accounting for in-Orbit Changes in Instrument Calibration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norman G. Loeb

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES project provides observations of Earth’s radiation budget using measurements from CERES instruments onboard the Terra, Aqua and Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP satellites. As the objective is to create a long-term climate data record, it is necessary to periodically reprocess the data in order to incorporate the latest calibration changes and algorithm improvements. Here, we focus on the improvements and validation of CERES Terra and Aqua radiances in Edition 4, which are used to generate higher-level climate data products. Onboard sources indicate that the total (TOT channel response to longwave (LW radiation has increased relative to the start of the missions by 0.4% to 1%. In the shortwave (SW, the sensor response change ranges from −0.4% to 0.6%. To account for in-orbit changes in SW spectral response function (SRF, direct nadir radiance comparisons between instrument pairs on the same satellite are made and an improved wavelength dependent degradation model is used to adjust the SRF of the instrument operating in a rotating azimuth plane scan mode. After applying SRF corrections independently to CERES Terra and Aqua, monthly variations amongst these instruments are highly correlated and the standard deviation in the difference of monthly anomalies is 0.2 Wm−2 for ocean and 0.3 Wm−2 for land/desert. Additionally, trends in CERES Terra and Aqua monthly anomalies are consistent to 0.21 Wm−2 per decade for ocean and 0.31 Wm−2 per decade for land/desert. In the LW, adjustments to the TOT channel SRF are made to ensure that removal of the contribution from the SW portion of the TOT channel with SW channel radiance measurements during daytime is consistent throughout the mission. Accordingly, anomalies in day–night LW difference in Edition 4 are more consistent compared to Edition 3, particularly for the Aqua land/desert case.

A transitioning Arctic surface energy budget: the impacts of solar zenith angle, surface albedo and cloud radiative forcing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sedlar, Joseph; Tjernstroem, Michael; Leck, Caroline [Stockholm University, Department of Meteorology, Stockholm (Sweden); Mauritsen, Thorsten [Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg (Germany); Shupe, Matthew D.; Persson, P.O.G. [University of Colorado, NOAA-ESRL-PSD, Boulder, CO (United States); Brooks, Ian M.; Birch, Cathryn E. [University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment, Leeds (United Kingdom); Sirevaag, Anders [University of Bergen, Bjerknes Center for Climate Research, Bergen (Norway); Nicolaus, Marcel [Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsoe (Norway); Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven (Germany)

2011-10-15

Snow surface and sea-ice energy budgets were measured near 87.5 N during the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS), from August to early September 2008. Surface temperature indicated four distinct temperature regimes, characterized by varying cloud, thermodynamic and solar properties. An initial warm, melt-season regime was interrupted by a 3-day cold regime where temperatures dropped from near zero to -7 C. Subsequently mean energy budget residuals remained small and near zero for 1 week until once again temperatures dropped rapidly and the energy budget residuals became negative. Energy budget transitions were dominated by the net radiative fluxes, largely controlled by the cloudiness. Variable heat, moisture and cloud distributions were associated with changing air-masses. Surface cloud radiative forcing, the net radiative effect of clouds on the surface relative to clear skies, is estimated. Shortwave cloud forcing ranged between -50 W m{sup -2} and zero and varied significantly with surface albedo, solar zenith angle and cloud liquid water. Longwave cloud forcing was larger and generally ranged between 65 and 85 W m{sup -2}, except when the cloud fraction was tenuous or contained little liquid water; thus the net effect of the clouds was to warm the surface. Both cold periods occurred under tenuous, or altogether absent, low-level clouds containing little liquid water, effectively reducing the cloud greenhouse effect. Freeze-up progression was enhanced by a combination of increasing solar zenith angles and surface albedo, while inhibited by a large, positive surface cloud forcing until a new air-mass with considerably less cloudiness advected over the experiment area. (orig.)

Geology on a Sand Budget

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Jacqueline

2004-01-01

Earth science teachers know how frustrating it can be to spend hundreds of dollars on three-dimensional (3-D) models of Earth's geologic features, to use the models for only a few class periods. To avoid emptying an already limited science budget, the author states that teachers can use a simple alternative to the expensive 3-D models--sand. She…

Earth cloud, aerosol, and radiation explorer optical payload development status

Science.gov (United States)

Hélière, A.; Wallace, K.; Pereira do Carmo, J.; Lefebvre, A.

2017-09-01

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are co-operating to develop as part of ESA's Living Planet Programme, the third Earth Explorer Core Mission, EarthCARE, with the ojective of improving the understanding of the processes involving clouds, aerosols and radiation in the Earth's atmosphere. EarthCARE payload consists of two active and two passive instruments: an ATmospheric LIDar (ATLID), a Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), a Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) and a Broad-Band Radiometer (BBR). The four instruments data are processed individually and in a synergetic manner to produce a large range of products, which include vertical profiles of aerosols, liquid water and ice, observations of cloud distribution and vertical motion within clouds, and will allow the retrieval of profiles of atmospheric radiative heating and cooling. MSI is a compact instrument with a 150 km swath providing 500 m pixel data in seven channels, whose retrieved data will give context to the active instrument measurements, as well as providing cloud and aerosol information. BBR measures reflected solar and emitted thermal radiation from the scene. Operating in the UV range at 355 nm, ATLID provides atmospheric echoes from ground to an altitude of 40 km. Thanks to a high spectral resolution filtering, the lidar is able to separate the relative contribution of aerosol and molecular scattering, which gives access to aerosol optical depth. Co-polarised and cross-polarised components of the Mie scattering contribution are measured on dedicated channels. This paper will provide a description of the optical payload implementation, the design and characterisation of the instruments.

USGS budget request up for 1994

Science.gov (United States)

White, M. Catherine

The president's U.S. Geological Survey budget request for fiscal year 1994 totals $598 million—up $20 million from the current budget. This would restore about half of the $42.46 million cut from its budget in fiscal 1993.In releasing the budget, Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, said, “The USGS reflects the new administration's understanding that investing in America requires investing in a strong Earth science capability,” and that “we need high-quality scientific information on natural hazards and on our water, mineral, energy, and land resources to serve as the building blocks for making intelligent decisions and planning future growth.”

Long Term Measurement of the Earth's Radiation Budget using a constellation of Broadband Radiometers hosted on Iridium NEXT

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Om Prakash; Thoma, Donald; Chaloner, Chris; Russell, Jacqueline; Simpson, Bill; Spilling, David; Morris, Nigel; Caldwell, Martin; Oneill, Alan

The WMO called for "bringing new missions to operational status" and that "ERB should be measured through a constellation of sensors". A unique opportu-nity exists to host a set of Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) sensors on the Iridium NEXT (NEXT) LEO constellation in a cost effective manner that can deliver these requirements. The NEXT constellation, with 66 interconnected satellites in 6 near polar orbiting planes, provides a unique platform for hosting a variety of Earth observation missions including ERB. Launches are planned to begin in 2014 through 2016. The ERB both drives and responds to global climate and monitoring it can provide much insight into the climate system and how it might be changing. A climate quality measurement of the ERB requires high absolute accuracy and excellent stability and a long-term (decades) data record in order to inform the debate about global warming. Measurement of the ERB in terms of the broadband reflected solar (0.3 to 4 µm) and emitted thermal (4 to 200 µm) components have been identified as high priority by the WMO for climate observations. High temporal resolution is the key advantage offered by the NEXT platform and can provide a great step forward in accurately monitoring the energy balance of the planet. The sensor we propose will consist of a broad band instrument and associated imager for scene identification and cloud classification. There is the chance to place two such sensors in each of six different orbital planes this will improve the product refresh time from currently 12 hours to 3 hours. The increased temporal resolution will allow direct measure-ment of the changes to the broadband radiances that result from rapidly varying components of the climate such as cloud and aerosol, and avoid the need of relying on narrow band sensors to infer such changes. Considering that the prediction of cloud response to climate change is still a major source of uncertainty; improved measurement of the cloud effect and

Clouds-radiation interactions in a general circulation model - Impact upon the planetary radiation balance

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Laura D.; Vonder Haar, Thomas H.

1991-01-01

Simultaneously conducted observations of the earth radiation budget and the cloud amount estimates, taken during the June 1979 - May 1980 Nimbus 7 mission were used to show interactions between the cloud amount and raidation and to verify a long-term climate simulation obtained with the latest version of the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM). The parameterization of the radiative, dynamic, and thermodynamic processes produced the mean radiation and cloud quantities that were in reasonable agreement with satellite observations, but at the expense of simulating their short-term fluctuations. The results support the assumption that the inclusion of the cloud liquid water (ice) variable would be the best mean to reduce the blinking of clouds in NCAR CCM.

Lageos orbit decay due to infrared radiation from earth

Science.gov (United States)

Rubincam, David Parry

1987-01-01

Infrared radiation from the earth may be the principal reason for the decay of Lageos' orbit. The radiation heats up the laser retroreflectors embedded in Lageos' aluminum surface. This creates a north-south temperature gradient on the satellite. The gradient in turn causes a force to be exerted on Lageos because of recoil from photons leaving its surface. The delayed heating of the retroreflectors due to their thermal inertia gives the force a net along-track component which always acts like drag. A simple thermal model for the retroreflectors indicates that this thermal drag accounts for about half the observed average along-track acceleration of -3.3 x 10 to the -10th power m/sec squared. The contribution from the aluminum surface to this effect is negligible. The infrared effect cannot explain the large observed fluctuations in drag which occur mainly when the orbit intersects the earth's shadow.

POLDER/Parasol L2 Radiation Budget subset along CloudSat track V001 (PARASOLRB_CPR) at GES DISC

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This is the POLDER/Parasol Level-2 Radiation Budget Subset, collocated with the CloudSat track. The subset is processed at the A-Train Data Depot of the GES DISC,...

Solar Radiation and Cloud Radiative Forcing in the Pacific Warm Pool Estimated Using TOGA COARE Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Ming-Dah; Chou, Shu-Hsien; Zhao, Wenzhong

1999-01-01

The energy budget of the tropical western Pacific (TWP) is particularly important because this is one of the most energetic convection regions on the Earth. Nearly half of the solar radiation incident at the top of atmosphere is absorbed at the surface and only about 22% absorbed in the atmosphere. A large portion of the excess heat absorbed at the surface is transferred to the atmosphere through evaporation, which provides energy and water for convection and precipitation. The western equatorial Pacific is characterized by the highest sea surface temperature (SST) and heaviest rainfall in the world ocean. A small variation of SST associated with the eastward shift of the warm pool during El-Nino/Souther Oscillation changes the atmospheric circulation pattern and affects the global climate. In a study of the TWP surface heat and momentum fluxes during the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) Intensive observing period (IOP) from November 1992 to February have found that the solar radiation is the most important component of the surface energy budget, which undergoes significant temporal and spatial variation. The variations are influenced by the two 40-50 days Madden Julian Oscillations (MJOs) which propagated eastward from the Indian Ocean to the Central Pacific during the IOP. The TWP surface solar radiation during the COARE IOP was investigated by a number of studies. In addition, the effects of clouds on the solar heating of the atmosphere in the TWP was studied using energy budget analysis. In this study, we present some results of the TWP surface solar shortwave or SW radiation budget and the effect of clouds on the atmospheric solar heating using the surface radiation measurements and Japan's Geostationary Meteorological Satellite 4 radiance measurements during COARE IOP.

WATER FORMATION IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE OF THE EARLY EARTH

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fleury, Benjamin; Carrasco, Nathalie; Marcq, Emmanuel; Vettier, Ludovic; Määttänen, Anni, E-mail: benjamin.fleury@latmos.ipsl.fr [Université Versailles St-Quentin, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CNRS/INSU, LATMOS-IPSL, 11 Boulevard d’Alembert, F-78280 Guyancourt (France)

2015-07-10

The water concentration and distribution in the early Earth's atmosphere are important parameters that contribute to the chemistry and the radiative budget of the atmosphere. If the atmosphere above the troposphere is generally considered as dry, photochemistry is known to be responsible for the production of numerous minor species. Here we used an experimental setup to study the production of water in conditions simulating the chemistry above the troposphere of the early Earth with an atmospheric composition based on three major molecules: N{sub 2}, CO{sub 2}, and H{sub 2}. The formation of gaseous products was monitored using infrared spectroscopy. Water was found as the major product, with approximately 10% of the gas products detected. This important water formation is discussed in the context of the early Earth.

Environmental levels of microwave radiation around a satellite earth station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joyner, K.H.; Bangay, M.J.

1986-01-01

This paper discusses the background to claims of possible adverse health effects arising from exposure to environmental levels of microwave radiation around satellite earth stations. Results of a recent survey of the environmental levels of microwave radiation around two 32 metre diameter satellite communications antennas owned and operated by the Overseas Telecommunications Commission (OTC) of Australia are presented. From the measurements obtained in this survey it can be concluded that the environmental levels of microwave radiation around the OTC and similar satellite facilities do not pose a health risk to persons in the vicinity

Risk assessment and late effects of radiation in low-earth orbits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fry, R.J.M.

1989-01-01

The radiation dose rates in low-earth orbits are dependent on the altitude and orbital inclination. The doses to which the crews of space vehicles are exposed is governed by the duration of the mission and the shielding, and in low-earth orbit missions protons are the dominant particles encountered. The risk of concern with the low dose rates and the relatively low total doses of radiation that will be incurred on the space station is excess cancer. The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements has recently recommended career dose-equivalent limits that take into account sex and age. The new recommendations for career limits range from 1.0 Sv to 4 Sv, depending on sex and on the age at the time of their first space mission, compared to a single career limit of 4.0 Sv previously used by NASA. Risk estimates for radiated-induced cancer are evolving and changes in the current guidance may be required in the next few years. 10 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs

Contrails over the U.S. and their potential impact on the radiation budget

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Minnis, P [National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hampton, VA (United States). Langley Research Center; Ayers, J K; Doelling, D R [Analytical Services and Materials, Inc., Hampton, VA (United States)

1998-12-31

A methodology for assessing the contrail impact on the radiation budget is developed to use data characterizing the frequency, areal coverage, optical depth, particle size, and altitude of contrails with observations of cloud and surface properties. The method is tested using various scenarios over the United States to estimate contrail-induced albedo changes based on current aircraft fuel usage statistics. The technique can be used for estimating infrared effects and the impact of future fuel-use rates. (author) 11 refs.

Contrails over the U.S. and their potential impact on the radiation budget

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Minnis, P. [National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hampton, VA (United States). Langley Research Center; Ayers, J.K.; Doelling, D.R. [Analytical Services and Materials, Inc., Hampton, VA (United States)

1997-12-31

A methodology for assessing the contrail impact on the radiation budget is developed to use data characterizing the frequency, areal coverage, optical depth, particle size, and altitude of contrails with observations of cloud and surface properties. The method is tested using various scenarios over the United States to estimate contrail-induced albedo changes based on current aircraft fuel usage statistics. The technique can be used for estimating infrared effects and the impact of future fuel-use rates. (author) 11 refs.

Study of gamma radiation between 0.1 and 1.0 MeV in the earth's atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boclet, D.

1967-01-01

The present work is devoted to some of the particular problems arising in the detection and localisation of sources of gamma radiation situated outside the earth's atmosphere. These weak sources can only be detected and localized if care is taken to eliminate gamma and particle radiations coming from other sources in the earth's atmosphere and in space. In order to separate the various sources of background noise, generally much stronger than the radiation under study, use is made of a directional detector whose characteristics are determined as described in the first part of the following report. The closest diffuse source considered is that constituted by the earth's atmosphere. Its detailed study will make it possible both to eliminate its effect when sources outside the earth are to be measured, and to predict the amount of secondary gamma radiation emitted by the same process in other celestial bodies, the moon in particular. This work considered in the 2. and 3. parts of the report. (author) [fr

Fiber-optic thermometer application of thermal radiation from rare-earth end-doped SiO2 fiber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katsumata, Toru; Morita, Kentaro; Komuro, Shuji; Aizawa, Hiroaki

2014-01-01

Visible light thermal radiation from SiO 2 glass doped with Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu were studied for the fiber-optic thermometer application based on the temperature dependence of thermal radiation. Thermal radiations according to Planck's law of radiation are observed from the SiO 2 fibers doped with Y, La, Ce, Pr, Eu, Tb, and Lu at the temperature above 1100 K. Thermal radiations due to f-f transitions of rare-earth ions are observed from the SiO 2 fibers doped with Nd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Yb at the temperature above 900 K. Peak intensities of thermal radiations from rare-earth doped SiO 2 fibers increase sensitively with temperature. Thermal activation energies of thermal radiations by f-f transitions seen in Nd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Yb doped SiO 2 fibers are smaller than those from SiO 2 fibers doped with Y, La, Ce, Pr, Eu, Tb, and Lu. Thermal radiation due to highly efficient f-f transitions in Nd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Yb ions emits more easily than usual thermal radiation process. Thermal radiations from rare-earth doped SiO 2 are potentially applicable for the fiber-optic thermometry above 900 K

Influence of the atmospheric aerosol and air pollution on solar albedo of the earth. Vol. 4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mayhoub, A B; Mohamed, K S [Mathematics and Theoretical Physics Department, Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Auhtority, Cairo, (Egypt)

1996-03-01

The effect of increasing atmospheric aerosol and air pollutant concentration on the solar albedo and consequently upon the heat budget near the earth`s surface is studied. The magnitude of aerosol absorption coefficient to back-scattering coefficient B{sub ab}/B{sub bs} is calculated. This study will be used to estimate atmospheric stability categories and other meteorological parameters which are affected by thermal state radiation balance of the atmosphere as mixing and inversion height of Inshas nuclear reactor site. Consequently, concentration distribution of radioactive release from Inshas can be evaluated.. 4 figs., 5 tabs.

Earthquake Energy Distribution along the Earth Surface and Radius

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varga, P.; Krumm, F.; Riguzzi, F.; Doglioni, C.; Suele, B.; Wang, K.; Panza, G.F.

2010-07-01

The global earthquake catalog of seismic events with M W ≥ 7.0, for the time interval from 1950 to 2007, shows that the depth distribution of earthquake energy release is not uniform. The 90% of the total earthquake energy budget is dissipated in the first ∼30km, whereas most of the residual budget is radiated at the lower boundary of the transition zone (410 km - 660 km), above the upper-lower mantle boundary. The upper border of the transition zone at around 410 km of depth is not marked by significant seismic energy release. This points for a non-dominant role of the slabs in the energy budged of plate tectonics. Earthquake number and energy release, although not well correlated, when analysed with respect to the latitude, show a decrease toward the polar areas. Moreover, the radiated energy has the highest peak close to (±5 o ) the so-called tectonic equator defined by Crespi et al. (2007), which is inclined about 30 o with respect to the geographic equator. At the same time the presence of a clear axial co- ordination of the radiated seismic energy is demonstrated with maxima at latitudes close to critical (±45 o ). This speaks about the presence of external forces that influence seismicity and it is consistent with the fact that Gutenberg-Richter law is linear, for events with M>5, only when the whole Earth's seismicity is considered. These data are consistent with an astronomical control on plate tectonics, i.e., the despinning (slowing of the Earth's angular rotation) of the Earth's rotation caused primarily by the tidal friction due to the Moon. The mutual position of the shallow and ∼660 km deep earthquake energy sources along subduction zones allows us to conclude that they are connected with the same slab along the W-directed subduction zones, but they may rather be disconnected along the opposed E-NE-directed slabs, being the deep seismicity controlled by other mechanisms. (author)

Ocean heat content and Earth's radiation imbalance. II. Relation to climate shifts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Douglass, D.H.; Knox, R.S.

2012-01-01

In an earlier study of ocean heat content (OHC) we showed that Earth's empirically implied radiation imbalance has undergone abrupt changes. Other studies have identified additional such climate shifts since 1950. The shifts can be correlated with features in recently updated OHC data. The implied radiation imbalance may possibly alternate in sign at dates close to the climate shifts. The most recent shifts occurred during 2001–2002 and 2008–2009. The implied radiation imbalance between these dates, in the direction of ocean heat loss, was −0.03±0.06 W/m 2 , with a possible systematic error of [−0.00,+0.09] W/m 2 . -- Highlights: ► Ocean heat content (OHC) slope discontinuities match similar Earth climate features. ► OHC slopes between climate shifts give most of the implied radiation balance (IRI). ► IRI often alternates in sign at dates close to the climate shifts. ► IRI between climate shifts of 2001–2002 and 2008–2009 was −0.03±0.06 W/m 2 . ► Geothermal flux is relevant to analyses of radiation imbalance.

Evidence for Solar Cycle Influence on the Infrared Energy Budget and Radiative Cooling of the Thermosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Mlynczak, Martin G.; Martin-Torres, F. Javier; Marshall, B. Thomas; Thompson, R. Earl; Williams, Joshua; Turpin, TImothy; Kratz, D. P.; Russell, James M.; Woods, Tom; Gordley, Larry L.

2007-01-01

We present direct observational evidence for solar cycle influence on the infrared energy budget and radiative cooling of the thermosphere. By analyzing nearly five years of data from the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument, we show that the annual mean infrared power radiated by the nitric oxide (NO) molecule at 5.3 m has decreased by a factor of 2.9. This decrease is correlated (r = 0.96) with the decrease in the annual mean F10.7 solar index. Despite the sharp decrease in radiated power (which is equivalent to a decrease in the vertical integrated radiative cooling rate), the variability of the power as given in the standard deviation of the annual means remains approximately constant. A simple relationship is shown to exist between the infrared power radiated by NO and the F10.7 index, thus providing a fundamental relationship between solar activity and the thermospheric cooling rate for use in thermospheric models. The change in NO radiated power is also consistent with changes in absorbed ultraviolet radiation over the same time period.

Earth Radiation Imbalance from a Constellation of 66 Iridium Satellites: Climate Science Aspects

Science.gov (United States)

Wiscombe, W.; Chiu, CJ. Y.

2012-01-01

The "global warming hiatus" since the 1998 El Nino, highlighted by Meehl et al., and the resulting "missing energy" problem highlighted by Trenberth et al., has opened the door to a more fundamental view of climate change than mere surface air temperature. That new view is based on two variables which are strongly correlated: the rate of change of ocean heat content d(OHC)/dt; and Earth Radiation Imbalance (ERI) at the top of the atmosphere, whose guesstimated range is 0.4 to 0.9 Watts per square meters (this imbalance being mainly due to increasing CO2). The Argo float array is making better and better measurements of OHC. But existing satellite systems cannot measure ERI to even one significant digit. So, climate model predictions of ERI are used in place of real measurements of it, and the satellite data are tuned to the climate model predictions. Some oceanographers say "just depend on Argo for understanding the global warming hiatus and the missing energy", but we don't think this is a good idea because d(OHC)/dt and ERI have different time scales and are never perfectly correlated. We think the ERB community needs to step up to measuring ERI correctly, just as oceanographers have deployed Argo to measure OHC correctly. This talk will overview a proposed constellation of 66 Earth radiation budget instruments, hosted on Iridium satellites, that will actually be able to measure ERI to at least one significant digit, thus enabling a crucial test of climate models. This constellation will also be able to provide ERI at two-hourly time scales and 500-km spatial scales without extrapolations from uncalibrated narrowband geostationary instruments, using the highly successful methods of GRACE to obtain spatial resolution. This high time resolution would make ERI a synoptic variable like temperature, and allow studies of ERI's response to fast-evolving phenomena like dust storms and hurricanes and even brief excursions of Total Solar Irradiance. Time permitting, we

Decomposing Shortwave Top-of-Atmosphere Radiative Flux Variability in Terms of Surface and Atmospheric Contributions Using CERES Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Loeb, N. G.; Wong, T.; Wang, H.

2017-12-01

Earth's climate is determined by the exchange of radiant energy between the Sun, Earth and space. The absorbed solar radiation (ASR) fuels the climate system, providing the energy required for atmospheric and oceanic motions, while the system cools by emitting outgoing longwave (LW) radiation to space. A central objective of the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) is to produce a long-term global climate data record of Earth's radiation budget along with the associated atmospheric and surface properties that influence it. CERES data products utilize a number of data sources, including broadband radiometers measuring incoming and reflected solar radiation and OLR, polar orbiting and geostationary spectral imagers, meteorological, aerosol and ozone assimilation data, and snow/sea-ice maps based on microwave radiometer data. Here we use simple diagnostic model of Earth's albedo and CERES Energy Balanced and Filled (EBAF) Ed4.0 data for March 2000-February 2016 to quantify interannual variations in SW TOA flux associated with surface albedo and atmospheric reflectance and transmittance variations. Surface albedo variations account for cloud properties over the Arctic Ocean.

Role of ionizing radiation in the natural history of the Earth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byakov, V.M.; Stepanov, S.V.; Stepanova, O.P.

2001-01-01

A role of ionizing radiation in some global processes and events in geological history of the Earth is considered. In particular, we discuss: (1) the influence of ionizing radiation from radioactive nuclei disseminated in sedimentary rocks on the transformation of terrestrial organic matter into stone coals and oil; (2) the effect of cosmic rays from Supernova stars as a common cause of quasi-regular global geological processes and biocatastrophes. (author)

The Surface Radiation Budget over Oceans and Continents.

Science.gov (United States)

Garratt, J. R.; Prata, A. J.; Rotstayn, L. D.; McAvaney, B. J.; Cusack, S.

1998-08-01

An updated evaluation of the surface radiation budget in climate models (1994-96 versions; seven datasets available, with and without aerosols) and in two new satellite-based global datasets (with aerosols) is presented. All nine datasets capture the broad mean monthly zonal variations in the flux components and in the net radiation, with maximum differences of some 100 W m2 occurring in the downwelling fluxes at specific latitudes. Using long-term surface observations, both from land stations and the Pacific warm pool (with typical uncertainties in the annual values varying between ±5 and 20 W m2), excess net radiation (RN) and downwelling shortwave flux density (So) are found in all datasets, consistent with results from earlier studies [for global land, excesses of 15%-20% (12 W m2) in RN and about 12% (20 W m2) in So]. For the nine datasets combined, the spread in annual fluxes is significant: for RN, it is 15 (50) W m2 over global land (Pacific warm pool) in an observed annual mean of 65 (135) W m2; for So, it is 25 (60) W m2 over land (warm pool) in an annual mean of 176 (197) W m2.The effects of aerosols are included in three of the authors' datasets, based on simple aerosol climatologies and assumptions regarding aerosol optical properties. They offer guidance on the broad impact of aerosols on climate, suggesting that the inclusion of aerosols in models would reduce the annual So by 15-20 W m2 over land and 5-10 W m2 over the oceans. Model differences in cloud cover contribute to differences in So between datasets; for global land, this is most clearly demonstrated through the effects of cloud cover on the surface shortwave cloud forcing. The tendency for most datasets to underestimate cloudiness, particularly over global land, and possibly to underestimate atmospheric water vapor absorption, probably contributes to the excess downwelling shortwave flux at the surface.

Exposure to natural radiation from the earth's crust, atmosphere and outer space - the natural radioactivity of the earth's crust

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwab, R.G.

1987-01-01

Any conclusions to be drawn from the geochemical distribution pattern of radioactive elements for one's own conduct require to study their distribution in soil, earth crust, magmatic differentiation, rock disintegration zone and biosphere. The author notes that high activities in soils and rocks are contrasted by relatively low radiation dose levels absorbed by the human body. This is different for incorporated radiation. (DG) [de

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-02-01

In order to understand energy's role in anthropogenic global climate change, significant reliance is being placed on General Circulation Models (GCMs). A major goal is to foster the development of GCMs capable of predicting the timing and magnitude of greenhouse gas-induced global warming and the regional effects of such warming. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program will contribute to the Department of Energy goal by improving the treatment of cloud radiative forcing and feedbacks in GCMs. Two issues will be addressed: the radiation budget and its spectral dependence and the radiative and other properties of clouds. The experimental objective of the ARM Program is to characterize empirically the radiative processes in the Earth's atmosphere with improved resolution and accuracy. A key to this characterization is the effective treatment of cloud formation and cloud properties in GCMs. Through this characterization of radiative properties, it will be possible to understand both the forcing and feedback effects. 19 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs

Investigation of Non-Equilibrium Radiation for Earth Entry

Science.gov (United States)

Brandis, A. M.; Johnston, C. O.; Cruden, B. A.

2016-01-01

For Earth re-entry at velocities between 8 and 11.5 km/s, the accuracy of NASA's computational uid dynamic and radiative simulations of non-equilibrium shock layer radiation is assessed through comparisons with measurements. These measurements were obtained in the NASA Ames Research Center's Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) facility. The experiments were aimed at measuring the spatially and spectrally resolved radiance at relevant entry conditions for both an approximate Earth atmosphere (79% N2 : 21% O2 by mole) as well as a more accurate composition featuring the trace species Ar and CO2 (78.08% N2 : 20.95% O2 : 0.04% CO2 : 0.93% Ar by mole). The experiments were configured to target a wide range of conditions, of which shots from 8 to 11.5 km/s at 0.2 Torr (26.7 Pa) are examined in this paper. The non-equilibrium component was chosen to be the focus of this study as it can account for a significant percentage of the emitted radiation for Earth re-entry, and more importantly, non-equilibrium has traditionally been assigned a large uncertainty for vehicle design. The main goals of this study are to present the shock tube data in the form of a non-equilibrium metric, evaluate the level of agreement between the experiment and simulations, identify key discrepancies and to examine critical aspects of modeling non-equilibrium radiating flows. Radiance pro les integrated over discreet wavelength regions, ranging from the Vacuum Ultra Violet (VUV) through to the Near Infra-Red (NIR), were compared in order to maximize both the spectral coverage and the number of experiments that could be used in the analysis. A previously defined non-equilibrium metric has been used to allow comparisons with several shots and reveal trends in the data. Overall, LAURA/HARA is shown to under-predict EAST by as much as 40% and over-predict by as much as 12% depending on the shock speed. DPLR/NEQAIR is shown to under-predict EAST by as much as 50% and over-predict by as much as 20% depending

Wavenumber dependent investigation of the terrestrial infrared radiation budget with two versions of the LOWTRAN5 band model

Science.gov (United States)

Charlock, T. P.

1984-01-01

Two versions of the LOWTRAN5 radiance code are used in a study of the earth's clear sky infrared radiation budget in the interval 30 per cm (333.3 microns) to 3530 per cm (2.8 microns). One version uses 5 per cm resolution and temperature dependent molecular absorption coefficients, and the second uses 20 per cm resolution and temperature independent molecular absorption coefficients. Both versions compare well with Nimbus 3 IRIS spectra, with some discrepancies at particular wavenumber intervals. Up and downgoing fluxes, calculated as functions of latitude, are displayed for wavenumbers at which the principle absorbers are active. Most of the variation of the fluxes with latitude is found in the higher wavenumber intervals for both clear and cloudy skies. The main features of the wavenumber integrated cooling rates are explained with reference to calculations in more restricted wavenumber intervals. A tropical lower tropospheric cooling maximum is produced by water vapor continuum effects in the 760-1240 per cm window. A secondary upper tropospheric cooling maximum, with wide meridional extent, is produced by water vapor rotational lines between 30-430 per cm. Water vapor lines throughout the terrestrial infrared spectrum prevent the upflux maximum from coinciding with the surface temperature maximum.

Space Weather Effects in the Earth's Radiation Belts

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, D. N.; Erickson, P. J.; Fennell, J. F.; Foster, J. C.; Jaynes, A. N.; Verronen, P. T.

2018-02-01

The first major scientific discovery of the Space Age was that the Earth is enshrouded in toroids, or belts, of very high-energy magnetically trapped charged particles. Early observations of the radiation environment clearly indicated that the Van Allen belts could be delineated into an inner zone dominated by high-energy protons and an outer zone dominated by high-energy electrons. The energy distribution, spatial extent and particle species makeup of the Van Allen belts has been subsequently explored by several space missions. Recent observations by the NASA dual-spacecraft Van Allen Probes mission have revealed many novel properties of the radiation belts, especially for electrons at highly relativistic and ultra-relativistic kinetic energies. In this review we summarize the space weather impacts of the radiation belts. We demonstrate that many remarkable features of energetic particle changes are driven by strong solar and solar wind forcings. Recent comprehensive data show broadly and in many ways how high energy particles are accelerated, transported, and lost in the magnetosphere due to interplanetary shock wave interactions, coronal mass ejection impacts, and high-speed solar wind streams. We also discuss how radiation belt particles are intimately tied to other parts of the geospace system through atmosphere, ionosphere, and plasmasphere coupling. The new data have in many ways rewritten the textbooks about the radiation belts as a key space weather threat to human technological systems.

NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget: Integrated Data Product With Reprocessed Radiance, Cloud, and Meteorology Inputs, and New Surface Albedo Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, Stephen J.; Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.; Gupta, Shashi K.; Mikovitz, J. Colleen; Zhang, Taiping

2016-01-01

The NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) project produces shortwave and longwave surface and top of atmosphere radiative fluxes for the 1983-near present time period. Spatial resolution is 1 degree. The current release 3.0 (available at gewex-srb.larc.nasa.gov) uses the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) DX product for pixel level radiance and cloud information. This product is subsampled to 30 km. ISCCP is currently recalibrating and recomputing their entire data series, to be released as the H product, at 10km resolution. The ninefold increase in pixel number will allow SRB a higher resolution gridded product (e.g. 0.5 degree), as well as the production of pixel-level fluxes. In addition to the input data improvements, several important algorithm improvements have been made. Most notable has been the adaptation of Angular Distribution Models (ADMs) from CERES to improve the initial calculation of shortwave TOA fluxes, from which the surface flux calculations follow. Other key input improvements include a detailed aerosol history using the Max Planck Institut Aerosol Climatology (MAC), temperature and moisture profiles from HIRS, and new topography, surface type, and snow/ice. Here we present results for the improved GEWEX Shortwave and Longwave algorithm (GSW and GLW) with new ISCCP data, the various other improved input data sets and the incorporation of many additional internal SRB model improvements. As of the time of abstract submission, results from 2007 have been produced with ISCCP H availability the limiting factor. More SRB data will be produced as ISCCP reprocessing continues. The SRB data produced will be released as part of the Release 4.0 Integrated Product, recognizing the interdependence of the radiative fluxes with other GEWEX products providing estimates of the Earth's global water and energy cycle (I.e., ISCCP, SeaFlux, LandFlux, NVAP, etc.).

Making NASA Earth Observing System Satellite Data Accessible to the K-12 and Citizen Scientist Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Susan W.; Phelps, Carrie S.; Chambers, Lin H.

2004-01-01

The Atmospheric Sciences Data Center (ASDC) at NASA s Langley Research Center houses over 700 data sets related to Earth s radiation budget, clouds, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry. These data sets are produced to increase academic understanding of the natural and anthropogenic perturbations that influence global climate change. The Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and earth science for Teachers and Amateurs (MY NASA DATA) project has been established to systematically support educational activities at all levels of formal and informal education by reducing these large data holdings to microsets that will be easily explored and understood by the K-12 and the amateur scientist communities

Impact of cloud microphysics on cloud-radiation interactions in the CSU general circulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fowler, L.D.; Randall, D.A.

1995-04-01

Our ability to study and quantify the impact of cloud-radiation interactions in studying global scale climate variations strongly relies upon the ability of general circulation models (GCMs) to simulate the coupling between the spatial and temporal variations of the model-generated cloudiness and atmospheric moisture budget components. In particular, the ability of GCMs to reproduce the geographical distribution of the sources and sinks of the planetary radiation balance depends upon their representation of the formation and dissipation of cloudiness in conjunction with cloud microphysics processes, and the fractional amount and optical characteristics of cloudiness in conjunction with the mass of condensate stored in the atmosphere. A cloud microphysics package which encompasses five prognostic variables for the mass of water vapor, cloud water, cloud ice, rain, and snow has been implemented in the Colorado State University General Circulation Model (CSU GCM) to simulate large-scale condensation processes. Convection interacts with the large-scale environment through the detrainment of cloud water and cloud ice at the top of cumulus towers. The cloud infrared emissivity and cloud optical depth of the model-generated cloudiness are interactive and depend upon the mass of cloud water and cloud ice suspended in the atmosphere. The global atmospheric moisture budget and planetary radiation budget of the CSU GCM obtained from a perpetual January simulation are discussed. Geographical distributions of the atmospheric moisture species are presented. Global maps of the top-of-atmosphere outgoing longwave radiation and planetary albedo are compared against Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) satellite data.

Evaluating cloudiness in an AGCM with Cloud Vertical Structure classes and their radiative effects

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, D.; Cho, N.; Oreopoulos, L.; Barahona, D.

2017-12-01

Clouds are recognized not only as the main modulator of Earth's Radiation Budget but also as the atmospheric constituent carrying the largest uncertainty in future climate projections. The presentation will showcase a new framework for evaluating clouds and their radiative effects in Atmospheric Global Climate Models (AGCMs) using Cloud Vertical Structure (CVS) classes. We take advantage of a new CVS reference dataset recently created from CloudSat's 2B-CLDCLASS-LIDAR product and which assigns observed cloud vertical configurations to nine simplified CVS classes based on cloud co-occurrence in three standard atmospheric layers. These CVS classes can also be emulated in GEOS-5 using the subcolumn cloud generator currently paired with the RRTMG radiation package as an implementation of the McICA scheme. Comparisons between the observed and modeled climatologies of the frequency of occurrence of the various CVS classes provide a new vantage point for assessing the realism of GEOS-5 clouds. Furthermore, a comparison between observed and modeled cloud radiative effects according to their CVS is also possible thanks to the availability of CloudSat's 2B-FLXHR-LIDAR product and our ability to composite radiative fluxes by CVS class - both in the observed and modeled realm. This latter effort enables an investigation of whether the contribution of the various CVS classes to the Earth's radiation budget is represented realistically in GEOS-5. Making this new pathway of cloud evaluation available to the community is a major step towards the improved representation of clouds in climate models.

The utility of the historical record in assessing future carbon budgets

Science.gov (United States)

Millar, R.; Friedlingstein, P.; Allen, M. R.

2017-12-01

It has long been known that the cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most physically relevant determiner of long-lived anthropogenic climate change, with an approximately linear relationship between CO2-induced global mean surface warming and cumulative emissions. The historical observational record offers a way to constrain the relationship between cumulative carbon dioxide emission and global mean warming using observations to date. Here we show that simple regression analysis indicates that the 1.5°C carbon budget would be exhausted after nearly three decades of current emissions, substantially in excess of many estimates from Earth System Models. However, there are many reasons to be cautious about carbon budget assessments from the historical record alone. Accounting for the uncertainty in non-CO2 radiative forcing using a simple climate model and a standard optimal fingerprinting detection attribution technique gives substantial uncertainty in the contribution of CO2 warming to date, and hence the transient climate response to cumulative emissions. Additionally, the existing balance between CO2 and non-CO2 forcing may change in the future under ambitious mitigation scenarios as non-CO2 emissions become more (or less) important to global mean temperature changes. Natural unforced variability can also have a substantial impact on estimates of remaining carbon budgets. By examining all warmings of a given magnitude in both the historical record and past and future ESM simulations we quantify the impact unforced climate variability may have on estimates of remaining carbon budgets, derived as a function of estimated non-CO2 warming and future emission scenario. In summary, whilst the historical record can act as a useful test of climate models, uncertainties in the response to future cumulative emissions remain large and extrapolations of future carbon budgets from the historical record alone should be treated with caution.

Modeling Earth Albedo for Satellites in Earth Orbit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bhanderi, Dan; Bak, Thomas

2005-01-01

Many satellite are influences by the Earthøs albedo, though very few model schemes exist.in order to predict this phenomenon. Earth albedo is often treated as noise, or ignored completely. When applying solar cells in the attitude hardware, Earth albedo can cause the attitude estimate to deviate...... with as much as 20 deg. Digital Sun sensors with Earth albedo correction in hardware exist, but are expensive. In addition, albedo estimates are necessary in thermal calculations and power budgets. We present a modeling scheme base4d on Eartht reflectance, measured by NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer......, in which the Earth Probe Satellite has recorded reflectivity data daily since mid 1996. The mean of these data can be used to calculate the Earth albedo given the positions of the satellite and the Sun. Our results show that the albedo varies highly with the solar angle to the satellite's field of view...

Wave energy budget analysis in the Earth’s radiation belts uncovers a missing energy

Science.gov (United States)

Artemyev, A.V.; Agapitov, O.V.; Mourenas, D.; Krasnoselskikh, V.V.; Mozer, F.S.

2015-01-01

Whistler-mode emissions are important electromagnetic waves pervasive in the Earth’s magnetosphere, where they continuously remove or energize electrons trapped by the geomagnetic field, controlling radiation hazards to satellites and astronauts and the upper-atmosphere ionization or chemical composition. Here, we report an analysis of 10-year Cluster data, statistically evaluating the full wave energy budget in the Earth’s magnetosphere, revealing that a significant fraction of the energy corresponds to hitherto generally neglected very oblique waves. Such waves, with 10 times smaller magnetic power than parallel waves, typically have similar total energy. Moreover, they carry up to 80% of the wave energy involved in wave–particle resonant interactions. It implies that electron heating and precipitation into the atmosphere may have been significantly under/over-valued in past studies considering only conventional quasi-parallel waves. Very oblique waves may turn out to be a crucial agent of energy redistribution in the Earth’s radiation belts, controlled by solar activity. PMID:25975615

Solar irradiance changes and photobiological effects at earth's surface following astrophysical ionizing radiation events.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Brian C; Neale, Patrick J; Snyder, Brock R

2015-03-01

Astrophysical ionizing radiation events have been recognized as a potential threat to life on Earth, primarily through depletion of stratospheric ozone and subsequent increase in surface-level solar ultraviolet radiation. Simulations of the atmospheric effects of a variety of events (such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and solar proton events) have been previously published, along with estimates of biological damage at Earth's surface. In this work, we employed the Tropospheric Ultraviolet and Visible (TUV) radiative transfer model to expand and improve calculations of surface-level irradiance and biological impacts following an ionizing radiation event. We considered changes in surface-level UVB, UVA, and photosynthetically active radiation (visible light) for clear-sky conditions and fixed aerosol parameter values. We also considered a wide range of biological effects on organisms ranging from humans to phytoplankton. We found that past work overestimated UVB irradiance but that relative estimates for increase in exposure to DNA-damaging radiation are still similar to our improved calculations. We also found that the intensity of biologically damaging radiation varies widely with organism and specific impact considered; these results have implications for biosphere-level damage following astrophysical ionizing radiation events. When considering changes in surface-level visible light irradiance, we found that, contrary to previous assumptions, a decrease in irradiance is only present for a short time in very limited geographical areas; instead we found a net increase for most of the modeled time-space region. This result has implications for proposed climate changes associated with ionizing radiation events.

Probabilistic estimates of 1.5-degree carbon budgets based on uncertainty in transient climate response and aerosol forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Partanen, A. I.; Mengis, N.; Jalbert, J.; Matthews, D.

2017-12-01

Nations agreed to limit the increase in global mean surface temperature relative to the preindustrial era below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to a more ambitious goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to assess the amount of cumulative carbon emissions compatible with these temperature targets, i.e. so called carbon budgets. In this work, we use the intermediate complexity University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM) to assess how uncertainty in aerosol forcing and transient climate response transfers to uncertainty in future carbon budgets for burning fossil fuels. We create a perturbed parameter ensemble of model simulations by scaling aerosol forcing and transient climate response, and assess the likelihood of each simulation by comparing the simulated historical cumulative carbon emissions, CO2 concentration and radiative balance to observations. By weighting the results of each simulation with the likelihood of the simulation, the preliminary results give a carbon budget of 48 Pg C to reach 1.5 degree Celsius temperature increase. The small weighted mean is due to large fraction of simulations with strong aerosol forcing and transient climate response giving negative carbon budgets for this time period. The probability of the carbon budget being over 100 Pg C was 38% and 23% for over 200 Pg carbon budget. The carbon budgets after temperature stabilization at 1.5 degrees are even smaller with a weighted mean of -100 Pg C until the year 2200. The main reason for the negative carbon budgets after temperature stabilization is an assumed strong decrease in aerosol forcing in the 21st century. Conversely, simulations with weak aerosol forcing and transient climate response give positive carbon budgets. Our results highlight both the importance of reducing uncertainty in aerosol forcing and transient climate response, and of taking the non-CO2 forcers into account when estimating carbon budgets.

Balancing the books - a statistical theory of prospective budgets in Earth System science

Science.gov (United States)

O'Kane, J. Philip

An honest declaration of the error in a mass, momentum or energy balance, ɛ, simply raises the question of its acceptability: "At what value of ɛ is the attempted balance to be rejected?" Answering this question requires a reference quantity against which to compare ɛ. This quantity must be a mathematical function of all the data used in making the balance. To deliver this function, a theory grounded in a workable definition of acceptability is essential. A distinction must be drawn between a retrospective balance and a prospective budget in relation to any natural space-filling body. Balances look to the past; budgets look to the future. The theory is built on the application of classical sampling theory to the measurement and closure of a prospective budget. It satisfies R.A. Fisher's "vital requirement that the actual and physical conduct of experiments should govern the statistical procedure of their interpretation". It provides a test, which rejects, or fails to reject, the hypothesis that the closing error on the budget, when realised, was due to sampling error only. By increasing the number of measurements, the discrimination of the test can be improved, controlling both the precision and accuracy of the budget and its components. The cost-effective design of such measurement campaigns is discussed briefly. This analysis may also show when campaigns to close a budget on a particular space-filling body are not worth the effort for either scientific or economic reasons. Other approaches, such as those based on stochastic processes, lack this finality, because they fail to distinguish between different types of error in the mismatch between a set of realisations of the process and the measured data.

Atmospheric water budget over the South Asian summer monsoon region

Science.gov (United States)

Unnikrishnan, C. K.; Rajeevan, M.

2018-04-01

High resolution hybrid atmospheric water budget over the South Asian monsoon region is examined. The regional characteristics, variability, regional controlling factors and the interrelations of the atmospheric water budget components are investigated. The surface evapotranspiration was created using the High Resolution Land Data Assimilation System (HRLDAS) with the satellite-observed rainfall and vegetation fraction. HRLDAS evapotranspiration shows significant similarity with in situ observations and MODIS satellite-observed evapotranspiration. Result highlights the fundamental importance of evapotranspiration over northwest and southeast India on atmospheric water balance. The investigation shows that the surface net radiation controls the annual evapotranspiration over those regions, where the surface evapotranspiration is lower than 550 mm. The rainfall and evapotranspiration show a linear relation over the low-rainfall regions (forcing (like surface net radiation). The lead and lag correlation of water budget components show that the water budget anomalies are interrelated in the monsoon season even up to 4 months lead. These results show the important regional interrelation of water budget anomalies on south Asian monsoon.

Sensitivity of surface temperature to radiative forcing by contrail cirrus in a radiative-mixing model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. Schumann

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Earth's surface temperature sensitivity to radiative forcing (RF by contrail cirrus and the related RF efficacy relative to CO2 are investigated in a one-dimensional idealized model of the atmosphere. The model includes energy transport by shortwave (SW and longwave (LW radiation and by mixing in an otherwise fixed reference atmosphere (no other feedbacks. Mixing includes convective adjustment and turbulent diffusion, where the latter is related to the vertical component of mixing by large-scale eddies. The conceptual study shows that the surface temperature sensitivity to given contrail RF depends strongly on the timescales of energy transport by mixing and radiation. The timescales are derived for steady layered heating (ghost forcing and for a transient contrail cirrus case. The radiative timescales are shortest at the surface and shorter in the troposphere than in the mid-stratosphere. Without mixing, a large part of the energy induced into the upper troposphere by radiation due to contrails or similar disturbances gets lost to space before it can contribute to surface warming. Because of the different radiative forcing at the surface and at top of atmosphere (TOA and different radiative heating rate profiles in the troposphere, the local surface temperature sensitivity to stratosphere-adjusted RF is larger for SW than for LW contrail forcing. Without mixing, the surface energy budget is more important for surface warming than the TOA budget. Hence, surface warming by contrails is smaller than suggested by the net RF at TOA. For zero mixing, cooling by contrails cannot be excluded. This may in part explain low efficacy values for contrails found in previous global circulation model studies. Possible implications of this study are discussed. Since the results of this study are model dependent, they should be tested with a comprehensive climate model in the future.

Modeling the effectiveness of shielding in the earth-moon-mars radiation environment using PREDICCS: five solar events in 2012

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, Philip R.; Schwadron, Nathan A.; Townsend, Larry W.; Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F.; Case, Anthony W.; Spence, Harlan E.; Wilson, Jody K.; Joyce, Colin J.

2017-08-01

Radiation in the form of solar energetic particles (SEPs) presents a severe risk to the short-term health of astronauts and the success of human exploration missions beyond Earth's protective shielding. Modeling how shielding mitigates the dose accumulated by astronauts is an essential step toward reducing these risks. PREDICCS (Predictions of radiation from REleASE, EMMREM, and Data Incorporating the CRaTER, COSTEP, and other SEP measurements) is an online tool for the near real-time prediction of radiation exposure at Earth, the Moon, and Mars behind various levels of shielding. We compare shielded dose rates from PREDICCS with dose rates from the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) at the Moon and from the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) during its cruise phase to Mars for five solar events in 2012 when Earth, MSL, and Mars were magnetically well connected. Calculations of the accumulated dose demonstrate a reasonable agreement between PREDICCS and RAD ranging from as little as 2% difference to 54%. We determine mathematical relationships between shielding levels and accumulated dose. Lastly, the gradient of accumulated dose between Earth and Mars shows that for the largest of the five solar events, lunar missions require aluminum shielding between 1.0 g cm-2 and 5.0 g cm-2 to prevent radiation exposure from exceeding the 30-day limits for lens and skin. The limits were not exceeded near Mars.

Radiation hardening techniques for rare-earth based optical fibers and amplifiers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girard, Sylvain; Marcandella, Claude; Vivona, Marilena; Prudenzano, Luciano Mescia F.; Laurent, Arnaud; Robin, Thierry; Cadier, Benoit; Pinsard, Emmanuel; Ouerdane, Youcef; Boukenter, Aziz; Cannas, Marco; Boscaino, Roberto

2012-01-01

Er/Yb doped fibers and amplifiers have been shown to be very radiation sensitive, limiting their integration in space. We present an approach including successive hardening techniques to enhance their radiation tolerance. The efficiency of our approach is demonstrated by comparing the radiation responses of optical amplifiers made with same lengths of different rare-earth doped fibers and exposed to gamma-rays. Previous studies indicated that such amplifiers suffered significant degradation for doses exceeding 10 krad. Applying our techniques significantly enhances the amplifier radiation resistance, resulting in a very limited degradation up to 50 krad. Our optimization techniques concern the fiber composition, some possible pre-treatments and the interest of simulation tools used to harden by design the amplifiers. We showed that adding cerium inside the fiber phospho-silicate-based core strongly decreases the fiber radiation sensitivity compared to the standard fiber. For both fibers, a pre-treatment with hydrogen permits to enhance again the fiber resistance. Furthermore, simulations tools can also be used to improve the tolerance of the fiber amplifier by helping identifying the best amplifier configuration for operation in the radiative environment. (authors)

Dynamics of Quasi-Electrostatic Whistler waves in Earth's Radiation belts

Science.gov (United States)

Goyal, R.; Sharma, R. P.; Gupta, D. N.

2017-12-01

A numerical model is proposed to study the dynamics of high amplitude quasi-electrostatic whistler waves propagating near resonance cone angle and their interaction with finite frequency kinetic Alfvén waves (KAWs) in Earth's radiation belts. The quasi-electrostatic character of whistlers is narrated by dynamics of wave propagating near resonance cone. A high amplitude whistler wave packet is obtained using the present analysis which has also been observed by S/WAVES instrument onboard STEREO. The numerical simulation technique employed to study the dynamics, leads to localization (channelling) of waves as well as turbulent spectrum suggesting the transfer of wave energy over a range of frequencies. The turbulent spectrum also indicates the presence of quasi-electrostatic whistlers and density fluctuations associated with KAW in radiation belts plasma. The ponderomotive force of pump quasi-electrostatic whistlers (high frequency) is used to excite relatively much lower frequency waves (KAWs). The wave localization and steeper spectra could be responsible for particle energization or heating in radiation belts.

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program Plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-02-01

In order to understand energy's role in anthropogenic global climate change, significant reliance is being placed on General Circulation Models (GCMs). A major goal of the Department is to foster the development of GCMs capable of predicting the timing and magnitude of greenhouse gas-induced global warming and the regional effects of such warming. DOE research has revealed that cloud radiative feedback is the single most important effect determining the magnitude of possible climate responses to human activity. However, cloud radiative forcing and feedbacks are not understood at the levels needed for reliable climate prediction. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program will contribute to the DOE goal by improving the treatment of cloud radiative forcing and feedbacks in GCMs. Two issues will be addressed: the radiation budget and its spectral dependence and the radiative and other properties of clouds. Understanding cloud properties and how to predict them is critical because cloud properties may very well change as climate changes. The experimental objective of the ARM Program is to characterize empirically the radiative processes in the Earth's atmosphere with improved resolution and accuracy. A key to this characterization is the effective treatment of cloud formation and cloud properties in GCMs. Through this characterization of radiative properties, it will be possible to understand both the forcing and feedback effects. GCM modelers will then be able to better identify the best approaches to improved parameterizations of radiative transfer effects. This is expected to greatly improve the accuracy of long-term, GCM predictions and the efficacy of those predictions at the important regional scale, as the research community and DOE attempt to understand the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the Earth's climate. 153 refs., 24 figs., 6 tabs

Jovian decametric radiation seen from Juno, Cassini, STEREO A, WIND, and Earth-based radio observatories

Science.gov (United States)

Imai, M.; Kurth, W. S.; Hospodarsky, G. B.; Bolton, S. J.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Levin, S. M.; Lecacheux, A.; Lamy, L.; Zarka, P.; Clarke, T. E.; Higgins, C. A.

2017-09-01

Jupiter's decametric (DAM) radiation is generated very close to the local gyrofrequency by the electron cyclotron maser instability (CMI). The first two-point common detections of Jovian DAM radiation were made using the Voyager spacecraft and ground-based radio observatories in early 1979, but, due to geometrical constraints and limited flyby duration, a full understanding of the latitudinal beaming of Jovian DAM radiation remains elusive. The stereoscopic DAM radiation viewed from Juno, Cassini, STEREO A, WIND, and Earth-based radio observatories provides a unique opportunity to analyze the CMI emission mechanism and beaming properties.

A study of the 3D radiative transfer effect in cloudy atmospheres

Science.gov (United States)

Okata, M.; Teruyuki, N.; Suzuki, K.

2015-12-01

Evaluation of the effect of clouds in the atmosphere is a significant problem in the Earth's radiation budget study with their large uncertainties of microphysics and the optical properties. In this situation, we still need more investigations of 3D cloud radiative transer problems using not only models but also satellite observational data.For this purpose, we have developed a 3D-Monte-Carlo radiative transfer code that is implemented with various functions compatible with the OpenCLASTR R-Star radiation code for radiance and flux computation, i.e. forward and backward tracing routines, non-linear k-distribution parameterization (Sekiguchi and Nakajima, 2008) for broad band solar flux calculation, and DM-method for flux and TMS-method for upward radiance (Nakajima and Tnaka 1998). We also developed a Minimum cloud Information Deviation Profiling Method (MIDPM) as a method for a construction of 3D cloud field with MODIS/AQUA and CPR/CloudSat data. We then selected a best-matched radar reflectivity factor profile from the library for each of off-nadir pixels of MODIS where CPR profile is not available, by minimizing the deviation between library MODIS parameters and those at the pixel. In this study, we have used three cloud microphysical parameters as key parameters for the MIDPM, i.e. effective particle radius, cloud optical thickness and top of cloud temperature, and estimated 3D cloud radiation budget. We examined the discrepancies between satellite observed and mode-simulated radiances and three cloud microphysical parameter's pattern for studying the effects of cloud optical and microphysical properties on the radiation budget of the cloud-laden atmospheres.

Site selection and directional models of deserts used for ERBE validation targets

Science.gov (United States)

Staylor, W. F.

1986-01-01

Broadband shortwave and longwave radiance measurements obtained from the Nimbus 7 Earth Radiation Budget scanner were used to develop reflectance and emittance models for the Sahara, Gibson, and Saudi Deserts. These deserts will serve as in-flight validation targets for the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment being flown on the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite and two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration polar satellites. The directional reflectance model derived for the deserts was a function of the sum and product of the cosines of the solar and viewing zenith angles, and thus reciprocity existed between these zenith angles. The emittance model was related by a power law of the cosine of the viewing zenith angle.

A magma ocean and the Earth's internal water budget

Science.gov (United States)

Ahrens, Thomas J.

1992-01-01

There are lines of evidence which relate bounds on the primordial water content of the Earth's mantle to a magma ocean and the accompanying Earth accretion process. We assume initially (before a magma ocean could form) that as the Earth accreted, it grew from volatile- (H2O, CO2, NH3, CH4, SO2, plus noble) gas-rich planetesimals, which accreted to form an initial 'primitive accretion core' (PAC). The PAC retained the initial complement of planetesimal gaseous components. Shock wave experiments in which both solid, and more recently, the gaseous components of materials such as serpentine and the Murchison meteorite have demonstrated that planetesimal infall velocities of less than 0.5 km/sec, induce shock pressures of less than 0.5 GPa and result in virtually complete retention of planetary gases.

Modification of radiation sensitivity by salts of the metals beryllium and indium and the rare earths cerium, lanthanum and scandium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Floersheim, G.L.

1995-01-01

The LD 50 of 46 salts of metals and rare earths (lanthanoids) was determined in mice. Half the LD 50 of the compounds was then combined with lethal radiation (10.5 Gy) and the modification of survival time was scored. Only the metals beryllium and indium and the rare earths cerium, lanthanum and scandium displayed activity in our assay. There were then tested at a wider range of lower doses and reduced survival time in a dose-dependent fashion. This appears to be compatible with enhancement of radiation sensitivity. The interaction of these metals and rare earths with radiation adds a new facet to their toxicological spectrum and, by enhancing radiation effects, may influence estimates of risk. On the other hand, radiosensitizing properties of the metals may be useful for further development of compounds to be used as adjuncts in specific situations of cancer radiotherapy. 31 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab

Design and "As Flown" Radiation Environments for Materials in Low Earth Orbit

Science.gov (United States)

Minow, Joseph; McWilliams, Brett; Altstatt, Richard; Koontz, Steven

2006-01-01

A conservative design approach was adopted by the International Space Station Program for specifying total ionizing radiation dose requirements for use in selecting and qualifying materials for construction of the International Space Station. The total ionizing dose design environment included in SSP 30512 Space Station Ionizing Radiation Design Environment is based on trapped proton and electron fluence derived from the solar maximum versions of the AE-8 and AP-8 models, respectively, specified for a circular orbit at 500 km altitude and 51.7 degree inclination. Since launch, the range of altitudes utilized for Space Station operations vary from a minimum of approximately 330 km to a maximum of approximately 405 km with a mean operational altitude less than 400 km. The design environment, therefore, overestimates the radiation environment because the particle flux in the South Atlantic Anomaly is the primary contributor to radiation dose in low Earth orbit and flux within the Anomaly is altitude dependent. In addition, a 2X multiplier is often applied to the design environment to cover effects from the contributions of galactic cosmic rays, solar energetic particle events, geomagnetic storms, and uncertainties in the trapped radiation models which are not explicitly included in the design environment. Application of this environment may give radiation dose overestimates on the order of 1OX to 30X for materials exposed to the space environment, suggesting that materials originally qualified for ten year exposures on orbit may be used for longer periods without replacement. In this paper we evaluate the "as flown" radiation environments derived from historical records of the ISS flight trajectory since launch and compare the results with the SSP 30512 design environment to document the magnitude of the radiation dose overestimate provided by the design environment. "As flown" environments are obtained from application of the AE-8/AP-8 trapped particle models along

A Dynamic/Anisotropic Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Ionizing Radiation Model

Science.gov (United States)

Badavi, Francis F.; West, Katie J.; Nealy, John E.; Wilson, John W.; Abrahms, Briana L.; Luetke, Nathan J.

2006-01-01

The International Space Station (ISS) provides the proving ground for future long duration human activities in space. Ionizing radiation measurements in ISS form the ideal tool for the experimental validation of ionizing radiation environmental models, nuclear transport code algorithms, and nuclear reaction cross sections. Indeed, prior measurements on the Space Transportation System (STS; Shuttle) have provided vital information impacting both the environmental models and the nuclear transport code development by requiring dynamic models of the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment. Previous studies using Computer Aided Design (CAD) models of the evolving ISS configurations with Thermo Luminescent Detector (TLD) area monitors, demonstrated that computational dosimetry requires environmental models with accurate non-isotropic as well as dynamic behavior, detailed information on rack loading, and an accurate 6 degree of freedom (DOF) description of ISS trajectory and orientation.

Solar radiation pressure resonances in Low Earth Orbits

Science.gov (United States)

Alessi, Elisa Maria; Schettino, Giulia; Rossi, Alessandro; Valsecchi, Giovanni B.

2018-01-01

The aim of this work is to highlight the crucial role that orbital resonances associated with solar radiation pressure can have in Low Earth Orbit. We review the corresponding literature, and provide an analytical tool to estimate the maximum eccentricity which can be achieved for well-defined initial conditions. We then compare the results obtained with the simplified model with the results obtained with a more comprehensive dynamical model. The analysis has important implications both from a theoretical point of view, because it shows that the role of some resonances was underestimated in the past, and also from a practical point of view in the perspective of passive deorbiting solutions for satellites at the end-of-life.

Solar Irradiance Changes And Photobiological Effects At Earth's Surface Following Astrophysical Ionizing Radiation Events

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Brian; Neale, Patrick

2016-01-01

Astrophysical ionizing radiation events have been recognized as a potential threat to life on Earth for decades. Although there is some direct biological damage on the surface from redistributed radiation several studies have indicated that the greatest long term threat is from ozone depletion and subsequent heightened solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. It is known that organisms exposed to this irradiation experience harmful effects such as sunburn and even direct damage to DNA, proteins, or other cellular structures. Simulations of the atmospheric effects of a variety of events (such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and solar proton events) have been previously published, along with estimates of biological damage at Earth's surface. In the present work, we employed a radiative transfer model to expand and improve calculations of surface-level irradiance and biological impacts following an ionizing radiation event. We considered changes in surface-level UVB, UVA, and photosynthetically active radiation (visible light). Using biological weighting functions we have considered a wide range of effects, including: erythema and skin cancer in humans; inhibition of photosynthesis in the diatom Phaeodactylum sp. and dinoflagellate Prorocentrum micans inhibition of carbon fixation in Antarctic phytoplankton; inhibition of growth of oat (Avena sativa L. cv. Otana) seedlings; and cataracts. We found that past work overestimated UVB irradiance, but that relative estimates for increase in exposure to DNA damaging radiation are still similar to our improved calculations. We also found that the intensity of biologically damaging radiation varies widely with organism and specific impact considered; these results have implications for biosphere-level damage following astrophysical ionizing radiation events. When considering changes in surface-level visible light irradiance, we found that, contrary to previous assumptions, a decrease in irradiance is only present for a short time in

Isotope composition and volume of Earth's early oceans.

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Emily C; Bird, Dennis K; Rosing, Minik T

2012-03-20

Oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of Earth's seawater are controlled by volatile fluxes among mantle, lithospheric (oceanic and continental crust), and atmospheric reservoirs. Throughout geologic time the oxygen mass budget was likely conserved within these Earth system reservoirs, but hydrogen's was not, as it can escape to space. Isotopic properties of serpentine from the approximately 3.8 Ga Isua Supracrustal Belt in West Greenland are used to characterize hydrogen and oxygen isotope compositions of ancient seawater. Archaean oceans were depleted in deuterium [expressed as δD relative to Vienna standard mean ocean water (VSMOW)] by at most 25 ± 5‰, but oxygen isotope ratios were comparable to modern oceans. Mass balance of the global hydrogen budget constrains the contribution of continental growth and planetary hydrogen loss to the secular evolution of hydrogen isotope ratios in Earth's oceans. Our calculations predict that the oceans of early Earth were up to 26% more voluminous, and atmospheric CH(4) and CO(2) concentrations determined from limits on hydrogen escape to space are consistent with clement conditions on Archaean Earth.

Interconnection getting energy from the Sun and the radiating Earth in cosmos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jumayev, E.E.

2004-01-01

Full text: Biosphere comprises atmosphere of itself. In our models must be reflected track record of atmosphere, one or another image is described attraction of air masses, that air, which we breath and in which we live. And not only motion. As well as energy of atmosphere, which nearly does not delay a sunshine, a is warmed by the heat, the infrared radiating a surface of the Earth and ocean. Enormous role play else two factors. First, the evaporation and condensation moisture, formation an clouds snow, ice, fallout of precipitation. Changing a phase condition of water brings about the big expenses or separation of energy and is one of the reasons, defining condition of atmosphere, but consequently, climate. Besides, rainfall, nature an clouds. Their distribution on the territory, moisture of atmosphere and ground alongside with sharing the temperatures is a most important factor, influencing upon the condition of alive part biosphere, which carries a name an biota and comprises of itself flora and fauna. The second factor, defining energy of atmosphere, - an interaction of ocean and atmosphere. One good storm in the North Atlantic will send atmosphere of more energy than for the whole it gets from solar radiation just. Thereby, model must be capable to describe processes of energy of ocean, its interaction with atmosphere, formation sea ice glacier and etc. Very important feature speakers biosphere is an activity its potential part. Depending on the nature of vegetation is changed terrestrial surface, the ability to reflect solar radiation. Besides, features of atmosphere and ocean hang from the intensity of geochemistry cycles, nature of rotation of materials in nature. Main role in making an greenhouse of rotation of materials in the nature. Main role in making of greenhouse effect play water vapors and carbon dioxide. Role of greenhouse effect in shaping climate Land us If in 'ts atmosphere was not a water pair and acid, which delay a heat radiation of planet

Radiative effects of ozone on the climate of a Snowball Earth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Yang

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Some geochemical and geological evidence has been interpreted to suggest that the concentration of atmospheric oxygen was only 1–10 % of the present level in the time interval from 750 to 580 million years ago when several nearly global glaciations or Snowball Earth events occurred. This low concentration of oxygen would have been accompanied by a lower ozone concentration than exists at present. Since ozone is a greenhouse gas, this change in ozone concentration would alter surface temperature, and thereby could have an important influence on the climate of the Snowball Earth. Previous works that have focused either on initiation or deglaciation of the proposed Snowball Earth has not taken the radiative effects of ozone changes into account. We address this issue herein by performing a series of simulations using an atmospheric general circulation model with various ozone concentrations.

Our simulation results demonstrate that, as ozone concentration is uniformly reduced from 100 % to 50 %, surface temperature decreases by approximately 0.8 K at the Equator, with the largest decreases located in the middle latitudes reaching as high as 2.5 K. When ozone concentration is reduced and its vertical and horizontal distribution is simultaneously modulated, surface temperature decreases by 0.4–1.0 K at the Equator and by 4–7 K in polar regions. These results here have uncertainties, depending on model parameterizations of cloud, surface snow albedo, and relevant feedback processes, while they are qualitatively consistent with radiative-convective model results that do not involve such parameterizations and feedbacks. These results suggest that ozone variations could have had a moderate impact on the climate during the Neoproterozoic glaciations.

Influence of the atmospheric aerosol and air pollution on solar albedo of the earth. Vol. 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayhoub, A.B.; Mohamed, K.S.

1996-01-01

The effect of increasing atmospheric aerosol and air pollutant concentration on the solar albedo and consequently upon the heat budget near the earth's surface is studied. The magnitude of aerosol absorption coefficient to back-scattering coefficient B ab /B bs is calculated. This study will be used to estimate atmospheric stability categories and other meteorological parameters which are affected by thermal state radiation balance of the atmosphere as mixing and inversion height of Inshas nuclear reactor site. Consequently, concentration distribution of radioactive release from Inshas can be evaluated.. 4 figs., 5 tabs

Isotope composition and volume of Earth´s early oceans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pope, Emily Catherine; Bird, Dennis K.; Rosing, Minik Thorleif

2012-01-01

Oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of Earth´s seawater are controlled by volatile fluxes among mantle, lithospheric (oceanic and continental crust), and atmospheric reservoirs. Throughout geologic time the oxygen mass budget was likely conserved within these Earth system reservoirs, but hyd...... in Earth´s oceans. Our calculations predict that the oceans of early Earth were up to 26% more voluminous, and atmospheric CH4 and CO2 concentrations determined from limits on hydrogen escape to space are consistent with clement conditions on Archaean Earth.......Oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of Earth´s seawater are controlled by volatile fluxes among mantle, lithospheric (oceanic and continental crust), and atmospheric reservoirs. Throughout geologic time the oxygen mass budget was likely conserved within these Earth system reservoirs......, but hydrogen´s was not, as it can escape to space. Isotopic properties of serpentine from the approximately 3.8 Ga Isua Supracrustal Belt in West Greenland are used to characterize hydrogen and oxygen isotope compositions of ancient seawater. Archaean oceans were depleted in deuterium [expressed as Î...

Bridging the Gap between Earth Science and Students: An Integrated Approach using NASA Earth Science Climate Data

Science.gov (United States)

Alston, Erica J.; Chambers, Lin H.; Phelps, Carrie S.; Oots, Penny C.; Moore, Susan W.; Diones, Dennis D.

2007-01-01

Under the auspices of the Department of Education's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, beginning in 2007 students will be tested in the science area. There are many techniques that educators can employ to teach students science. The use of authentic materials or in this case authentic data can be an engaging alternative to more traditional methods. An Earth science classroom is a great place for the integration of authentic data and science concepts. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a wealth of high quality Earth science data available to the general public. For instance, the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA s Langley Research Center houses over 800 Earth science data sets related to Earth's radiation budget, clouds, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry. These data sets were produced to increase academic understanding of the natural and anthropogenic factors that influence global climate; however, a major hurdle in using authentic data is the size of the data and data documentation. To facilitate the use of these data sets for educational purposes, the Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and Earth science for Teachers and Amateurs (MY NASA DATA) project has been established to systematically support educational activities at all levels of formal and informal education. The MY NASA DATA project accomplishes this by reducing these large data holdings to microsets that are easily accessible and explored by K-12 educators and students though the project's Web page. MY NASA DATA seeks to ease the difficulty in understanding the jargon-heavy language of Earth science. This manuscript will show how MY NASA DATA provides resources for NCLB implementation in the science area through an overview of the Web site, the different microsets available, the lesson plans and computer tools, and an overview of educational support mechanisms.

First-Principles Definition and Measurement of Planetary Electromagnetic-Energy Budget

Science.gov (United States)

Mishchenko, Michael I.; Lock, James A.; Lacis, Andrew A.; Travis, Larry D.; Cairns, Brian

2016-01-01

The imperative to quantify the Earths electromagnetic-energy budget with an extremely high accuracy has been widely recognized but has never been formulated in the framework of fundamental physics. In this paper we give a first-principles definition of the planetary electromagnetic-energy budget using the Poynting- vector formalism and discuss how it can, in principle, be measured. Our derivation is based on an absolute minimum of theoretical assumptions, is free of outdated notions of phenomenological radiometry, and naturally leads to the conceptual formulation of an instrument called the double hemispherical cavity radiometer (DHCR). The practical measurement of the planetary energy budget would require flying a constellation of several dozen planet-orbiting satellites hosting identical well-calibrated DHCRs.

Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis of Afterbody Radiative Heating Predictions for Earth Entry

Science.gov (United States)

West, Thomas K., IV; Johnston, Christopher O.; Hosder, Serhat

2016-01-01

The objective of this work was to perform sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification for afterbody radiative heating predictions of Stardust capsule during Earth entry at peak afterbody radiation conditions. The radiation environment in the afterbody region poses significant challenges for accurate uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis due to the complexity of the flow physics, computational cost, and large number of un-certain variables. In this study, first a sparse collocation non-intrusive polynomial chaos approach along with global non-linear sensitivity analysis was used to identify the most significant uncertain variables and reduce the dimensions of the stochastic problem. Then, a total order stochastic expansion was constructed over only the important parameters for an efficient and accurate estimate of the uncertainty in radiation. Based on previous work, 388 uncertain parameters were considered in the radiation model, which came from the thermodynamics, flow field chemistry, and radiation modeling. The sensitivity analysis showed that only four of these variables contributed significantly to afterbody radiation uncertainty, accounting for almost 95% of the uncertainty. These included the electronic- impact excitation rate for N between level 2 and level 5 and rates of three chemical reactions in uencing N, N(+), O, and O(+) number densities in the flow field.

Clouds and Earth Radiant Energy System (CERES), a Review: Past, Present and Future

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, G. L.; Priestley, K. J.; Loeb, N. G.; Wielicki, B. A.; Charlock, T. P.; Minnis, P.; Doelling, D. R.; Rutan, D. A.

2011-01-01

The Clouds and Earth Radiant Energy System (CERES) project s objectives are to measure the reflected solar radiance (shortwave) and Earth-emitted (longwave) radiances and from these measurements to compute the shortwave and longwave radiation fluxes at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and the surface and radiation divergence within the atmosphere. The fluxes at TOA are to be retrieved to an accuracy of 2%. Improved bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDFs) have been developed to compute the fluxes at TOA from the measured radiances with errors reduced from ERBE by a factor of two or more. Instruments aboard the Terra and Aqua spacecraft provide sampling at four local times. In order to further reduce temporal sampling errors, data are used from the geostationary meteorological satellites to account for changes of scenes between observations by the CERES radiometers. A validation protocol including in-flight calibrations and comparisons of measurements has reduced the instrument errors to less than 1%. The data are processed through three editions. The first edition provides a timely flow of data to investigators and the third edition provides data products as accurate as possible with resources available. A suite of cloud properties retrieved from the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) by the CERES team is used to identify the cloud properties for each pixel in order to select the BRDF for each pixel so as to compute radiation fluxes from radiances. Also, the cloud information is used to compute radiation at the surface and through the atmosphere and to facilitate study of the relationship between clouds and the radiation budget. The data products from CERES include, in addition to the reflected solar radiation and Earth emitted radiation fluxes at TOA, the upward and downward shortwave and longwave radiation fluxes at the surface and at various levels in the atmosphere. Also at the surface the photosynthetically active radiation

SEL monitoring of the earth's energetic particle radiation environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sauer, H.H.

1989-01-01

The Space Environment Laboratory (SEL) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintains instruments on board the GOES series of geostationary satellites, and aboard the NOAA/TIROS series of low-altitude, polar-orbiting satellites, which provide monitoring of the energetic particle radiation environment as well as monitoring the geostationary magnetic field and the solar x-ray flux. The data are used by the SEL Space Environment Services Center (SESC) to help provide real-time monitoring and forecasting of the state of the near earth environment and its disturbances, and to maintain a source of reliable information to research and operational activities of a variety of users

The oceanic cycle and global atmospheric budget of carbonyl sulfide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weiss, P.S.

1994-12-31

A significant portion of stratospheric air chemistry is influenced by the existence of carbonyl sulfide (COS). This ubiquitous sulfur gas represents a major source of sulfur to the stratosphere where it is converted to sulfuric acid aerosol particles. Stratospheric aerosols are climatically important because they scatter incoming solar radiation back to space and are able to increase the catalytic destruction of ozone through gas phase reactions on particle surfaces. COS is primarily formed at the surface of the earth, in both marine and terrestrial environments, and is strongly linked to natural biological processes. However, many gaps in the understanding of the global COS cycle still exist, which has led to a global atmospheric budget that is out of balance by a factor of two or more, and a lack of understanding of how human activity has affected the cycling of this gas. The goal of this study was to focus on COS in the marine environment by investigating production/destruction mechanisms and recalculating the ocean-atmosphere flux.

Wave-Particle Interactions in the Earth's Radiation Belts: Recent Advances and Unprecedented Future Opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Li, W.

2017-12-01

In the collisionless heliospheric plasmas, wave-particle interaction is a fundamental physical process in transferring energy and momentum between particles with different species and energies. This presentation focuses on one of the important wave-particle interaction processes: interaction between whistler-mode waves and electrons. Whistler-mode waves have frequencies between proton and electron cyclotron frequency and are ubiquitously present in the heliospheric plasmas including solar wind and planetary magnetospheres. I use Earth's Van Allen radiation belt as "local space laboratory" to discuss the role of whistler-mode waves in energetic electron dynamics using multi-satellite observations, theory and modeling. I further discuss solar wind drivers leading to energetic electron dynamics in the Earth's radiation belts, which is critical in predicting space weather that has broad impacts on our technological systems and society. At last, I discuss the unprecedented future opportunities of exploring space science using multi-satellite observations and state-of-the-art theory and modeling.

Feasibility of modifying the high resolution infrared radiation sounder (HIRS/2) for measuring spectral components of Earth radiation budget

Science.gov (United States)

Koenig, E. W.; Holman, K. A.

1980-01-01

The concept of adding four spectral channels to the 20 channel HIRS/2 instrument for the purpose of determining the origin and profile of radiant existence from the Earth's atmosphere is considered. Methods of addition of three channels at 0.5, 1.0 and 1.6 micron m to the present 0.7 micron m visible channel and an 18-25 micron m channel to the present 19 channels spaced from 3.7 micron m to 15 micron m are addressed. Optical components and physical positions were found that permit inclusion of these added channels with negligible effect on the performance of the present 20 channels. Data format changes permit inclusion of the ERB data in the 288 bits allocated to HIRS for each scan element. A lamp and collimating optic assembly may replace one of the on board radiometric black bodies to provide a reference source for the albedo channels. Some increase in instrument dimensions, weight and power will be required to accommodate the modifications.

A method to detect ultra high energy electrons using earth's magnetic field as a radiator

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, S. A.; Balasubrahmanyan, V. K.

1983-01-01

It is pointed out that the detection of electrons with energies exceeding a few TeV, which lose energy rapidly through synchrotron and inverse Compton processes, would provide valuable information on the distribution of sources and on the propagation of cosmic rays in the solar neighborhood. However, it would not be possible to measure the energy spectrum beyond a few TeV with any of the existing experimental techniques. The present investigation is, therefore concerned with the possibility of detecting electrons with energies exceeding a few TeV on the basis of the photons emitted through synchrotron radiation in the earth's magnetic field. Attention is given to the synchrotron radiation of electrons in the earth's magnetic field, detector response and energy estimation, and the characteristics of an ideal detector, capable of detecting photons with energies equal to or greater than 20 keV.

Radiation transport in earth for neutron and gamma ray point sources above an air-ground interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lillie, R.A.; Santoro, R.T.

1979-03-01

Two-dimensional discrete ordinates methods were used to calculate the instantaneous dose rate in silicon and neutron and gamma ray fluences as a function of depth in earth from point sources at various heights (1.0, 61.3, and 731.5 meters) above an air--ground interface. The radiation incident on the earth's surface was transported through an earth-only and an earth--concrete model containing 0.9 meters of borated concrete beginning 0.5 meters below the earth's surface to obtain fluence distributions to a depth of 3.0 meters. The inclusion of borated concrete did not significantly reduce the total instantaneous dose rate in silicon and, in all cases, the secondary gamma ray fluence and corresponding dose are substantially larger than the primary neutron fluence and corresponding dose for depths greater than 0.6 meter. 4 figures, 4 tables

Radiation transport in earth for neutron and gamma-ray point sources above an air-ground interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lillie, R.A.; Santoro, R.T.

1980-01-01

Two-dimensional discrete-ordinates methods have been used to calculate the instantaneous dose rate in silicon and neutron and gamma-ray fluences as a function of depth in earth from point sources at various heights (1.0, 61.3, and 731.5 m) above an air-ground interface. The radiation incident on the earth's surface was transported through an earth-only and an earth-concrete model containing 0.9 m of borated concrete beginning 0.5 m below the earth's surface to obtain fluence distributions to a depth of 3.0 m. The inclusion of borated concrete did not significantly reduce the total instantaneous dose rate in silicon, and in all cases, the secondary gamma-ray fluence and corresponding dose are substantially larger than the primary neutron fluence and corresponding dose for depths > 0.6 m

Space Radiation: The Number One Risk to Astronaut Health beyond Low Earth Orbit

Science.gov (United States)

Chancellor, Jeffery C.; Scott, Graham B. I.; Sutton, Jeffrey P.

2014-01-01

Projecting a vision for space radiobiological research necessitates understanding the nature of the space radiation environment and how radiation risks influence mission planning, timelines and operational decisions. Exposure to space radiation increases the risks of astronauts developing cancer, experiencing central nervous system (CNS) decrements, exhibiting degenerative tissue effects or developing acute radiation syndrome. One or more of these deleterious health effects could develop during future multi-year space exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). Shielding is an effective countermeasure against solar particle events (SPEs), but is ineffective in protecting crew members from the biological impacts of fast moving, highly-charged galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) nuclei. Astronauts traveling on a protracted voyage to Mars may be exposed to SPE radiation events, overlaid on a more predictable flux of GCR. Therefore, ground-based research studies employing model organisms seeking to accurately mimic the biological effects of the space radiation environment must concatenate exposures to both proton and heavy ion sources. New techniques in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and other “omics” areas should also be intelligently employed and correlated with phenotypic observations. This approach will more precisely elucidate the effects of space radiation on human physiology and aid in developing personalized radiological countermeasures for astronauts. PMID:25370382

Space Radiation: The Number One Risk to Astronaut Health beyond Low Earth Orbit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeffery C. Chancellor

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Projecting a vision for space radiobiological research necessitates understanding the nature of the space radiation environment and how radiation risks influence mission planning, timelines and operational decisions. Exposure to space radiation increases the risks of astronauts developing cancer, experiencing central nervous system (CNS decrements, exhibiting degenerative tissue effects or developing acute radiation syndrome. One or more of these deleterious health effects could develop during future multi-year space exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO. Shielding is an effective countermeasure against solar particle events (SPEs, but is ineffective in protecting crew members from the biological impacts of fast moving, highly-charged galactic cosmic radiation (GCR nuclei. Astronauts traveling on a protracted voyage to Mars may be exposed to SPE radiation events, overlaid on a more predictable flux of GCR. Therefore, ground-based research studies employing model organisms seeking to accurately mimic the biological effects of the space radiation environment must concatenate exposures to both proton and heavy ion sources. New techniques in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and other “omics” areas should also be intelligently employed and correlated with phenotypic observations. This approach will more precisely elucidate the effects of space radiation on human physiology and aid in developing personalized radiological countermeasures for astronauts.

Optical radiation measurements II; Proceedings of the Meeting, Orlando, FL, Mar. 27, 28, 1989

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, James M.

1989-09-01

The present conference discusses topics in the characterization of imaging radiometers, laboratory instrumentation, field and spacecraft instrumentation, and quantum and thermal standard detectors. Attention is given to UV radiometric imaging, dual-color radiometer imagery, a novel diode-array radiometer, a novel reference spectrophotometer, radiance calibration of spherical integrators, instrumentation for measurement of spectral goniometric reflectance, and a real-time IR background discrimination radiometer. Also discussed are a multichannel radiometer for atmosphere optical property measurements, the UV spectroradiometric output of a turbojet, characterizations of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment scanning radiometers, total-radiation thermometry, future directions in Si photodiode self-calibration, and radiometric quality Ge photodiodes.

Atmospheric dynamics and habitability range in Earth-like aquaplanets obliquity simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Nowajewski, Priscilla; Rojas, M.; Rojo, P.; Kimeswenger, S.

2018-05-01

We present the evolution of the atmospheric variables that affect planetary climate by increasing the obliquity by using a general circulation model (PlaSim) coupled to a slab ocean with mixed layer flux correction. We increase the obliquity between 30° and 90° in 16 aquaplanets with liquid sea surface and perform the simulation allowing the sea ice cover formation to be a consequence of its atmospheric dynamics. Insolation is maintained constant in each experiment, but changing the obliquity affects the radiation budget and the large scale circulation. Earth-like atmospheric dynamics is observed for planets with obliquity under 54°. Above this value, the latitudinal temperature gradient is reversed giving place to a new regime of jet streams, affecting the shape of Hadley and Ferrel cells and changing the position of the InterTropical Convergence Zone. As humidity and high temperatures determine Earth's habitability, we introduce the wet bulb temperature as an atmospheric index of habitability for Earth-like aquaplanets with above freezing temperatures. The aquaplanets are habitable all year round at all latitudes for values under 54°; above this value habitability decreases toward the poles due to high temperatures.

Earth Reflected Solar Radiation Incident upon an Arbitrarily Oriented Spinning Flat Plate

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Fred G.

1963-01-01

A general derivation is given for the earth reflected solar radiation input to a flat plate--a solar cell paddle, for example--which is spinning about an axis coincident with the axis of symmetry of the satellite to which it is affixed. The resulting equations are written for the general case so that arbitrary orientations of the spin axis with respect to the earth-satellite line and arbitrary orientations of the normal to the plate with respect to the spin axis can be treated. No attempt is made to perform the resulting integrations because of the complexity of the equations; nor is there any attempt to delineate the integration limits for the general case. However, the equations governing these limits are given. The appendixes contain: the results, in graphical form, of two representative examples; the general computer program for the calculation is given in Fortran notation; and the results of a calculation of the distribution of albedo energy on the proposed Echo II satellite. The value of the mean solar constant used is 1.395 times 10 (sup 4) ergs per centimeters-squared per second; the mean albedo of the earth is assumed to be 0.34; and the earth is assumed to be a diffuse reflector.

Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Journal of Earth System Science. Charuta V Prabhu. Articles written in Journal of Earth System Science. Volume 109 Issue 2 June 2000 pp 267-277. Diurnal variability of upper ocean temperature and heat budget in the southern Bay of Bengal during October — November, 1998 (BOBMEX-Pilot).

7 CFR 3402.14 - Budget and budget narrative.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Budget and budget narrative. 3402.14 Section 3402.14... GRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE FELLOWSHIP GRANTS PROGRAM Preparation of an Application § 3402.14 Budget and budget narrative. Applicants must prepare the Budget, Form CSREES-2004, and a budget narrative...

Cosmic rays, clouds, and climate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marsh, N.; Svensmark, Henrik

2000-01-01

cloud radiative properties. Thus, a moderate influence on atmospheric aerosol distributions from cosmic ray ionisation would have a strong influence on the Earth's radiation budget. Historical evidence over the past 1000 years indicates that changes in climate have occurred in accord with variability......A correlation between a global average of low cloud cover and the flux of cosmic rays incident in the atmosphere has been observed during the last solar cycle. The ionising potential of Earth bound cosmic rays are modulated by the state of the heliosphere, while clouds play an important role...... in the Earth's radiation budget through trapping outgoing radiation and reflecting incoming radiation. If a physical link between these two features can be established, it would provide a mechanism linking solar activity and Earth's climate. Recent satellite observations have further revealed a correlation...

Viscous-shock-layer solutions with coupled radiation and ablation injection for earth entry

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Roop N.; Lee, Kam-Pui; Moos, James N.; Sutton, Kenneth

1990-01-01

Results are obtained for the forebody of a planetary exploration vehicle entering the earth's atmosphere. A viscous-shock-layer analysis is used assuming the flow to be laminar and in chemical equilibrium. Presented results include coupled radiation and ablation injection. This study further includes the effect of different transport and thermodynamic properties and radiation models. A Lewis number of 1.4 appears adequate for the radiation-dominated flows. Five velocities corresponding to different possible trajectory points at an altitude of 70 km have been further analyzed in detail. Sublimation and radiative equilibrium wall temperatures are employed for cases with and without coupled injection, respectively. For the cases analyzed here, the mass injection rates are small. However, the rates could become large if a lower altitude is used for aerobraking and/or the body size is increased. A comparison of the equilibrium results with finite-rate chemistry calculation shows the flowfield to be in chemical equilibrium.

Modeling the effectiveness of shielding in the earth-moon-mars radiation environment using PREDICCS: five solar events in 2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quinn Philip R.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Radiation in the form of solar energetic particles (SEPs presents a severe risk to the short-term health of astronauts and the success of human exploration missions beyond Earth’s protective shielding. Modeling how shielding mitigates the dose accumulated by astronauts is an essential step toward reducing these risks. PREDICCS (Predictions of radiation from REleASE, EMMREM, and Data Incorporating the CRaTER, COSTEP, and other SEP measurements is an online tool for the near real-time prediction of radiation exposure at Earth, the Moon, and Mars behind various levels of shielding. We compare shielded dose rates from PREDICCS with dose rates from the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO at the Moon and from the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL during its cruise phase to Mars for five solar events in 2012 when Earth, MSL, and Mars were magnetically well connected. Calculations of the accumulated dose demonstrate a reasonable agreement between PREDICCS and RAD ranging from as little as 2% difference to 54%. We determine mathematical relationships between shielding levels and accumulated dose. Lastly, the gradient of accumulated dose between Earth and Mars shows that for the largest of the five solar events, lunar missions require aluminum shielding between 1.0 g cm−2 and 5.0 g cm−2 to prevent radiation exposure from exceeding the 30-day limits for lens and skin. The limits were not exceeded near Mars.

Atmospheric water budget over the western Himalayas in a regional ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

influences the water budget over mountainous regions. This winter ... Moisture feedback; western Himalayas; regional climate. J. Earth Syst. Sci. ... and role of soil moisture in determining regional flood or ... Grell (1993), the resolvable-scale cloud and preci- ..... RegCNET: Regional climate modeling for the developing world ...

Seasonal and annual heat budgets offshore the Hanko Peninsula, Gulf of Finland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merkouriadi, I.; Lepparanta, M. [Helsinki Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Physics], Email: ioanna.merkouriadi@helsinki.fi; Shirasawa, K. [Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo (Japan). Pan-Okhotsk Research Center, Inst. of Low Temperature Science

2013-06-01

A joint Finnish-Japanese sea-ice experiment 'Hanko-9012' carried out offshore the Hanko Peninsula included seasonal monitoring and intensive field campaigns. Ice, oceanographic and meteorological data were collected to examine the structure and properties of the Baltic Sea brackish ice, heat budget and solar radiation transfer through the ice cover. Here, the data from two years (2000 and 2001) are used for the estimation of the seasonal and annual heat budgets. Results present the surface heat balance, and the heat budget of the ice sheet and the waterbody. The ice cover acted as a good control measure of the net surface heat exchange. Solar radiation had a strong seasonal cycle with a monthly maximum at 160 and a minimum below 10 W m{sup -2}, while net terrestrial radiation was mostly between -40 and -60 W m{sup -2}. Latent heat exchange was much more important than sensible heat exchange, similar the net terrestrial radiation values in summer and autumn. A comparison between the latent heat flux released or absorbed by the ice and the net surface heat fluxes showed similar patterns, with a clearly better fit in 2001. The differences can be partly explained by the oceanic heat flux to the lower ice boundary. (orig.)

Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Journal of Earth System Science. S C Arunchandra. Articles written in Journal of Earth System Science. Volume 117 Issue 6 December 2008 pp 911-923. On the measurement of the surface energy budget over a land surface during the summer monsoon · G S Bhat S C Arunchandra · More Details Abstract ...

Earth Science Data and Applications for K-16 Education from the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center

Science.gov (United States)

Phelps, C. S.; Chambers, L. H.; Alston, E. J.; Moore, S. W.; Oots, P. C.

2005-05-01

NASA's Science Mission Directorate aims to stimulate public interest in Earth system science and to encourage young scholars to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. NASA's Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at Langley Research Center houses over 700 data sets related to Earth's radiation budget, clouds, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry that are being produced to increase academic understanding of the natural and anthropogenic perturbations that influence global climate change. However, barriers still exist in the use of these actual satellite observations by educators in the classroom to supplement the educational process. Thus, NASA is sponsoring the "Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and earth science for Teachers and Amateurs" (MY NASA DATA) project to systematically support educational activities by reducing the ASDC data holdings to `microsets' that can be easily accessible and explored by the K-16 educators and students. The microsets are available via Web site (http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov) with associated lesson plans, computer tools, data information pages, and a science glossary. A MY NASA DATA Live Access Server (LAS) has been populated with ASDC data such that users can create custom microsets online for desired time series, parameters and geographical regions. The LAS interface is suitable for novice to advanced users, teachers or students. The microsets may be visual representations of data or text output for spreadsheet analysis. Currently, over 148 parameters from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), Surface Radiation Budget (SRB), Tropospheric Ozone Residual (TOR) and the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) are available and provide important information on clouds, fluxes and cycles in the Earth system. Additionally, a MY NASA DATA OPeNDAP server has been established to facilitate file transfer of

Strategies for estimating the water budget at different scales using the JGrass-NewAGE system

Science.gov (United States)

Bancheri, M.; Rigon, R.; Serafin, F.; Abera, W.; Bottazzi, M.

2017-12-01

Recently we presented two papers one dedicated to the estimation of the water budget components in a small, basin, the Posina catchment [Abera et al., 2017], and the other in a large basin, the Blue Nile [Abera et al., 2017b]. At the smallest scale the ground measurements available do not guarantee the closure of the budget without making additional hypothesis. The large scale case, instead, was largely supported by remote sensing data either for calibration and/or validation. This contribution explains how we actually did it, clarifies some aspects of the informatics and openly discusses the issues risen in our work. We also consider varying configuration of the water budget schemes at the subbasin level, and how this affects the estimates.Finally we analyse the problem of travel times [Rigon et al., 2016a, Rigon et al, 2016b] as it comes out from considering the multiple fluxes and storages. All considerations and simulations are based on the JGrass-NewAGE system [Formetta et al., 2014] and its evolution (Bancheri [2017]).ReferencesAbera, W., Formetta, G., Borga, M., & Rigon, R. (2017a). Estimating the water budget components and their variability in a pre-alpine basin with JGrass-NewAGE. Advances in Water Resources, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2017.03.010Abera, W., Formetta, G., Brocca, L., & Rigon, R. (2017b). Modeling the water budget of the Upper Blue Nile basin using the JGrass-NewAge model system and satellite data. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. http://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3145-2017Bancheri, M., A travel time model for water budget of complex catchments, ph.D Thesis, 2017Formetta, G., Antonello, A., Franceschi, S., David, O., & Rigon, R. (2014). Hydrological modelling with components: A GIS-based open-source framework. Environmental Modelling and Software,. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2014.01.019Rigon, R., Bancheri, M., Formetta, G., & de Lavenne, A. (2016). The geomorphological unit hydrograph from a historical-critical perspective

The early summertime Saharan heat low: sensitivity of the radiation budget and atmospheric heating to water vapour and dust aerosol

Science.gov (United States)

Alamirew, Netsanet K.; Todd, Martin C.; Ryder, Claire L.; Marsham, John H.; Wang, Yi

2018-01-01

The Saharan heat low (SHL) is a key component of the west African climate system and an important driver of the west African monsoon across a range of timescales of variability. The physical mechanisms driving the variability in the SHL remain uncertain, although water vapour has been implicated as of primary importance. Here, we quantify the independent effects of variability in dust and water vapour on the radiation budget and atmospheric heating of the region using a radiative transfer model configured with observational input data from the Fennec field campaign at the location of Bordj Badji Mokhtar (BBM) in southern Algeria (21.4° N, 0.9° E), close to the SHL core for June 2011. Overall, we find dust aerosol and water vapour to be of similar importance in driving variability in the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiation budget and therefore the column-integrated heating over the SHL (˜ 7 W m-2 per standard deviation of dust aerosol optical depth - AOD). As such, we infer that SHL intensity is likely to be similarly enhanced by the effects of dust and water vapour surge events. However, the details of the processes differ. Dust generates substantial radiative cooling at the surface (˜ 11 W m-2 per standard deviation of dust AOD), presumably leading to reduced sensible heat flux in the boundary layer, which is more than compensated by direct radiative heating from shortwave (SW) absorption by dust in the dusty boundary layer. In contrast, water vapour invokes a radiative warming at the surface of ˜ 6 W m-2 per standard deviation of column-integrated water vapour in kg m-2. Net effects involve a pronounced net atmospheric radiative convergence with heating rates on average of 0.5 K day-1 and up to 6 K day-1 during synoptic/mesoscale dust events from monsoon surges and convective cold-pool outflows (haboobs). On this basis, we make inferences on the processes driving variability in the SHL associated with radiative and advective heating/cooling. Depending on the

Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer (DART 5 for Modeling Airborne and Satellite Spectroradiometer and LIDAR Acquisitions of Natural and Urban Landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Philippe Gastellu-Etchegorry

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Satellite and airborne optical sensors are increasingly used by scientists, and policy makers, and managers for studying and managing forests, agriculture crops, and urban areas. Their data acquired with given instrumental specifications (spectral resolution, viewing direction, sensor field-of-view, etc. and for a specific experimental configuration (surface and atmosphere conditions, sun direction, etc. are commonly translated into qualitative and quantitative Earth surface parameters. However, atmosphere properties and Earth surface 3D architecture often confound their interpretation. Radiative transfer models capable of simulating the Earth and atmosphere complexity are, therefore, ideal tools for linking remotely sensed data to the surface parameters. Still, many existing models are oversimplifying the Earth-atmosphere system interactions and their parameterization of sensor specifications is often neglected or poorly considered. The Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer (DART model is one of the most comprehensive physically based 3D models simulating the Earth-atmosphere radiation interaction from visible to thermal infrared wavelengths. It has been developed since 1992. It models optical signals at the entrance of imaging radiometers and laser scanners on board of satellites and airplanes, as well as the 3D radiative budget, of urban and natural landscapes for any experimental configuration and instrumental specification. It is freely distributed for research and teaching activities. This paper presents DART physical bases and its latest functionality for simulating imaging spectroscopy of natural and urban landscapes with atmosphere, including the perspective projection of airborne acquisitions and LIght Detection And Ranging (LIDAR waveform and photon counting signals.

Global volcanic emissions: budgets, plume chemistry and impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Mather, T. A.

2012-12-01

Over the past few decades our understanding of global volcanic degassing budgets, plume chemistry and the impacts of volcanic emissions on our atmosphere and environment has been revolutionized. Global volcanic emissions budgets are needed if we are to make effective use of regional and global atmospheric models in order to understand the consequences of volcanic degassing on global environmental evolution. Traditionally volcanic SO2 budgets have been the best constrained but recent efforts have seen improvements in the quantification of the budgets of other environmentally important chemical species such as CO2, the halogens (including Br and I) and trace metals (including measurements relevant to trace metal atmospheric lifetimes and bioavailability). Recent measurements of reactive trace gas species in volcanic plumes have offered intriguing hints at the chemistry occurring in the hot environment at volcanic vents and during electrical discharges in ash-rich volcanic plumes. These reactive trace species have important consequences for gas plume chemistry and impacts, for example, in terms of the global fixed nitrogen budget, volcanically induced ozone destruction and particle fluxes to the atmosphere. Volcanically initiated atmospheric chemistry was likely to have been particularly important before biological (and latterly anthropogenic) processes started to dominate many geochemical cycles, with important consequences in terms of the evolution of the nitrogen cycle and the role of particles in modulating the Earth's climate. There are still many challenges and open questions to be addressed in this fascinating area of science.

Budget estimates: Fiscal year 1994. Volume 3: Research and program management

Science.gov (United States)

1994-01-01

The research and program management (R&PM) appropriation provides the salaries, other personnel and related costs, and travel support for NASA's civil service workforce. This FY 1994 budget funds costs associated with 23,623 full-time equivalent (FTE) work years. Budget estimates are provided for all NASA centers by categories such as space station and new technology investments, space flight programs, space science, life and microgravity sciences, advanced concepts and technology, center management and operations support, launch services, mission to planet earth, tracking and data programs, aeronautical research and technology, and safety, reliability, and quality assurance.

Electromagnetic behaviour of the earth and planets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCarthy, A.J.

2002-01-01

Forecast problems of global warming, rising sea-levels, UV enhancement, and solar disruptions of power grids and satellite communications, have been widely discussed. Added to these calamities is the steady decay of the Earth's magnetic radiation shield against high energy particles. A system of solar-induced aperiodic electromagnetic resonances, referred to here as the Debye resonances, is resurrected as the preferred basis for describing the electromagnetic behaviour of the Earth and planets. Debye's two basic solutions to the spherical vector wave equation provide foundations for electromagnetic modes of the terrestrial and gaseous planets respectively in contrast with the separate electric and magnetic approaches usually taken. For those engaged in radiation protection issues, this paper provides the first published account of how the Sun apparently triggers an Earth magnetic shield against its own harmful radiation. Disturbances from the Sun - which are random in terms of polarity, polarisation, amplitude, and occurrence - are considered here to trigger the Debye modes and generate observed planetary electric and magnetic fields. Snapping or reconnection of solar or interplanetary field lines, acting together with the newly conceived magnetospheric transmission lines of recent literature, is suspected as the excitation mechanism. Virtual replacement of free space by plasma, places the electromagnetic behaviour of the Earth and planets under greatly enhanced control from the Sun. From a radiation protection viewpoint, modal theory based on solar-terrestrial coupling provides a new insight into the origin of the Earth's magnetic radiation shield, greater understanding of which is essential to development of global cosmic radiation protection strategies. Should man-made influences unduly increase conductivities of the Earth's magnetosphere, planet Earth could be left with no magnetic radiation shield whatsoever. Copyright (2002) Australasian Radiation Protection

ARTS, the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator - version 2.2, the planetary toolbox edition

Science.gov (United States)

Buehler, Stefan A.; Mendrok, Jana; Eriksson, Patrick; Perrin, Agnès; Larsson, Richard; Lemke, Oliver

2018-04-01

This article describes the latest stable release (version 2.2) of the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator (ARTS), a public domain software for radiative transfer simulations in the thermal spectral range (microwave to infrared). The main feature of this release is a planetary toolbox that allows simulations for the planets Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, in addition to Earth. This required considerable model adaptations, most notably in the area of gaseous absorption calculations. Other new features are also described, notably radio link budgets (including the effect of Faraday rotation that changes the polarization state) and the treatment of Zeeman splitting for oxygen spectral lines. The latter is relevant, for example, for the various operational microwave satellite temperature sensors of the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) family.

Impacts of cloud overlap assumptions on radiative budgets and heating fields in convective regions

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, XiaoCong; Liu, YiMin; Bao, Qing

2016-01-01

Impacts of cloud overlap assumptions on radiative budgets and heating fields are explored with the aid of a cloud-resolving model (CRM), which provided cloud geometry as well as cloud micro and macro properties. Large-scale forcing data to drive the CRM are from TRMM Kwajalein Experiment and the Global Atmospheric Research Program's Atlantic Tropical Experiment field campaigns during which abundant convective systems were observed. The investigated overlap assumptions include those that were traditional and widely used in the past and the one that was recently addressed by Hogan and Illingworth (2000), in which the vertically projected cloud fraction is expressed by a linear combination of maximum and random overlap, with the weighting coefficient depending on the so-called decorrelation length Lcf. Results show that both shortwave and longwave cloud radiative forcings (SWCF/LWCF) are significantly underestimated under maximum (MO) and maximum-random (MRO) overlap assumptions, whereas remarkably overestimated under the random overlap (RO) assumption in comparison with that using CRM inherent cloud geometry. These biases can reach as high as 100 Wm- 2 for SWCF and 60 Wm- 2 for LWCF. By its very nature, the general overlap (GenO) assumption exhibits an encouraging performance on both SWCF and LWCF simulations, with the biases almost reduced by 3-fold compared with traditional overlap assumptions. The superiority of GenO assumption is also manifested in the simulation of shortwave and longwave radiative heating fields, which are either significantly overestimated or underestimated under traditional overlap assumptions. The study also pointed out the deficiency of constant assumption on Lcf in GenO assumption. Further examinations indicate that the CRM diagnostic Lcf varies among different cloud types and tends to be stratified in the vertical. The new parameterization that takes into account variation of Lcf in the vertical well reproduces such a relationship and

A New Approach in Public Budgeting: Citizens' Budget

Science.gov (United States)

Bilge, Semih

2015-01-01

Change and transformation in the understanding and definition of citizenship has led to the emergence of citizen-oriented public service approach. This approach also raised a new term and concept in the field of public budgeting because of the transformation in the processes of public budgeting: citizens' budget. The citizens' budget which seeks…

FY 1996 Congressional budget request: Budget highlights

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1995-02-01

The FY 1996 budget presentation is organized by the Department`s major business lines. An accompanying chart displays the request for new budget authority. The report compares the budget request for FY 1996 with the appropriated FY 1995 funding levels displayed on a comparable basis. The FY 1996 budget represents the first year of a five year plan in which the Department will reduce its spending by $15.8 billion in budget authority and by $14.1 billion in outlays. FY 1996 is a transition year as the Department embarks on its multiyear effort to do more with less. The Budget Highlights are presented by business line; however, the fifth business line, Economic Productivity, which is described in the Policy Overview section, cuts across multiple organizational missions, funding levels and activities and is therefore included in the discussion of the other four business lines.

The Stability of Hydrogen-Rich Atmospheres of Earth-Like Planets

Science.gov (United States)

Zahnle, Kevin

2016-01-01

Understanding hydrogen escape is essential to understanding the limits to habitability, both for liquid water where the Sun is bright, but also to assess the true potential of H2 as a greenhouse gas where the Sun is faint. Hydrogen-rich primary atmospheres of Earth-like planets can result either from gravitational capture of solar nebular gases (with helium), or from impact shock processing of a wide variety of volatile-rich planetesimals (typically accompanied by H2O, CO2, and under the right circumstances, CH4). Most studies of hydrogen escape from planets focus on determining how fast the hydrogen escapes. In general this requires solving hydro- dynamic equations that take into account the acceleration of hydrogen through a critical transonic point and an energy budget that should include radiative heating and cooling, thermal conduction, the work done in lifting the hydrogen against gravity, and the residual heat carried by the hydrogen as it leaves. But for planets from which hydrogen escape is modest or insignificant, the atmosphere can be approximated as hydrostatic, which is much simpler, and for which a relatively full-featured treatment of radiative cooling by embedded molecules, atoms, and ions such as CO2 and H3+ is straightforward. Previous work has overlooked the fact that the H2 molecule is extremely efficient at exciting non-LTE CO2 15 micron emission, and thus that radiative cooling can be markedly more efficient when H2 is abundant. We map out the region of phase space in which terrestrial planets keep hydrogen-rich atmospheres, which is what we actually want to know for habitability. We will use this framework to reassess Tian et al's hypothesis that H2-rich atmospheres may have been rather long-lived on Earth itself. Finally, we will address the empirical observation that rocky planets with thin or negligible atmospheres are rarely or never bigger than 1.6 Earth radii.

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, A. E.; Behnke, J.; Lowe, D.; Ramapriyan, H. K.

2009-12-01

NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of NASA Earth observation program for over 10 years. It is one of the largest civilian science information system in the US, performing ingest, archive and distribution of over 3 terabytes of data per day much of which is from NASA’s flagship missions Terra, Aqua and Aura. The system supports a variety of science disciplines including polar processes, land cover change, radiation budget, and most especially global climate change. The EOSDIS data centers, collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, archive and distribute standard data products produced by science investigator-led processing systems. Key to the success of EOSDIS is the concept of core versus community requirements. EOSDIS supports a core set of services to meet specific NASA needs and relies on community-developed services to meet specific user needs. EOSDIS offers a metadata registry, ECHO (Earth Observing System Clearinghouse), through which the scientific community can easily discover and exchange NASA’s Earth science data and services. Users can search, manage, and access the contents of ECHO’s registries (data and services) through user-developed and community-tailored interfaces or clients. The ECHO framework has become the primary access point for cross-Data Center search-and-order of EOSDIS and other Earth Science data holdings archived at the EOSDIS data centers. ECHO’s Warehouse Inventory Search Tool (WIST) is the primary web-based client for discovering and ordering cross-discipline data from the EOSDIS data centers. The architecture of the EOSDIS provides a platform for the publication, discovery, understanding and access to NASA’s Earth Observation resources and allows for easy integration of new datasets. The EOSDIS also has developed several methods for incorporating socioeconomic data into its data collection. Over the years, we have developed several methods for

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Andrew E.; Behnke, Jeanne; Lowe, Dawn; Ramapriyan, H. K.

2009-01-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of NASA Earth observation program for over 10 years. It is one of the largest civilian science information system in the US, performing ingest, archive and distribution of over 3 terabytes of data per day much of which is from NASA s flagship missions Terra, Aqua and Aura. The system supports a variety of science disciplines including polar processes, land cover change, radiation budget, and most especially global climate change. The EOSDIS data centers, collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, archive and distribute standard data products produced by science investigator-led processing systems. Key to the success of EOSDIS is the concept of core versus community requirements. EOSDIS supports a core set of services to meet specific NASA needs and relies on community-developed services to meet specific user needs. EOSDIS offers a metadata registry, ECHO (Earth Observing System Clearinghouse), through which the scientific community can easily discover and exchange NASA s Earth science data and services. Users can search, manage, and access the contents of ECHO s registries (data and services) through user-developed and community-tailored interfaces or clients. The ECHO framework has become the primary access point for cross-Data Center search-and-order of EOSDIS and other Earth Science data holdings archived at the EOSDIS data centers. ECHO s Warehouse Inventory Search Tool (WIST) is the primary web-based client for discovering and ordering cross-discipline data from the EOSDIS data centers. The architecture of the EOSDIS provides a platform for the publication, discovery, understanding and access to NASA s Earth Observation resources and allows for easy integration of new datasets. The EOSDIS also has developed several methods for incorporating socioeconomic data into its data collection. Over the years, we have developed several methods for determining

Recovery of Spent Bleaching Earth From Palm Oil Refining Using Radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nor Azillah Fatimah Othman; Tuan Amran Tuan Abdullah; Nor Azillah Fatimah Othman; Nor Azwin Shukri; Selambakkanu, S.; Siti Fatahiyah Mohamad

2014-01-01

Acid activated calcium montmorillonite clay or commonly referred to as bleaching clays is one type of clay used in physical refining of palm oil and it is prioritized in removing a variety of undesirable impurities which would otherwise impart colour, odour and taste to the refined product. Used-up bleaching clays or known as Spent Bleaching Earth (SBE) is considered as industrial waste and commonly dispose without any pretreatment. SBE usually contains considerable quantities of entrained oil that is quantified approximately to 30 to 40 %. The residual oil in these principal solid waste products can rapidly oxidize to the point of spontaneous ignition as a result of clay-catalyzed auto-oxidation reactions. Due to this fact, the disposal of SBE has become an environmental problem and pretreatment of SBE is very important. There are several studies on the residual oil removal from the SBE using heat treatment. Radiation generated from electron beam accelerator can supply high energy to break the C-C and C-H bond. It is expected that the removal of hydrocarbon will occurs at high rate compared to conventional heating. This research proposes the use of radiation on the recovery of SBE from palm oil refining waste. Evaluation of radiation effect on properties of SBE will be conducted to study the effectiveness of using radiation in the purification process. Finally, the material produced will be evaluated and characterized for regeneration and reuse purpose. (author)

New Millennium Program: Servicing Earth and Space Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Li, F.

1999-01-01

NASA has exciting plans for space science and Earth observations during the next decade. A broad range of advanced spacecraft and measurement technologies will be needed to support these plans within the existing budget and schedule constraints.

Multisource Estimation of Long-term Global Terrestrial Surface Radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, L.; Sheffield, J.

2017-12-01

Land surface net radiation is the essential energy source at the earth's surface. It determines the surface energy budget and its partitioning, drives the hydrological cycle by providing available energy, and offers heat, light, and energy for biological processes. Individual components in net radiation have changed historically due to natural and anthropogenic climate change and land use change. Decadal variations in radiation such as global dimming or brightening have important implications for hydrological and carbon cycles. In order to assess the trends and variability of net radiation and evapotranspiration, there is a need for accurate estimates of long-term terrestrial surface radiation. While large progress in measuring top of atmosphere energy budget has been made, huge discrepancies exist among ground observations, satellite retrievals, and reanalysis fields of surface radiation, due to the lack of observational networks, the difficulty in measuring from space, and the uncertainty in algorithm parameters. To overcome the weakness of single source datasets, we propose a multi-source merging approach to fully utilize and combine multiple datasets of radiation components separately, as they are complementary in space and time. First, we conduct diagnostic analysis of multiple satellite and reanalysis datasets based on in-situ measurements such as Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA), existing validation studies, and other information such as network density and consistency with other meteorological variables. Then, we calculate the optimal weighted average of multiple datasets by minimizing the variance of error between in-situ measurements and other observations. Finally, we quantify the uncertainties in the estimates of surface net radiation and employ physical constraints based on the surface energy balance to reduce these uncertainties. The final dataset is evaluated in terms of the long-term variability and its attribution to changes in individual

Scientific Visualization & Modeling for Earth Systems Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhury, S. Raj; Rodriguez, Waldo J.

2003-01-01

Providing research experiences for undergraduate students in Earth Systems Science (ESS) poses several challenges at smaller academic institutions that might lack dedicated resources for this area of study. This paper describes the development of an innovative model that involves students with majors in diverse scientific disciplines in authentic ESS research. In studying global climate change, experts typically use scientific visualization techniques applied to remote sensing data collected by satellites. In particular, many problems related to environmental phenomena can be quantitatively addressed by investigations based on datasets related to the scientific endeavours such as the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). Working with data products stored at NASA's Distributed Active Archive Centers, visualization software specifically designed for students and an advanced, immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environment, students engage in guided research projects during a structured 6-week summer program. Over the 5-year span, this program has afforded the opportunity for students majoring in biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, physics, engineering and science education to work collaboratively in teams on research projects that emphasize the use of scientific visualization in studying the environment. Recently, a hands-on component has been added through science student partnerships with school-teachers in data collection and reporting for the GLOBE Program (GLobal Observations to Benefit the Environment).

Intensity increase of energetic electrons in the outer radiation belt of the Earth in July 1972 according to data of the ''Prognoz-2'' artificial Earth satellite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blyudov, V.A.; Volodichev, N.N.; Nechaev, O.Yu.; Savenko, I.A.; Saraeva, M.A.; Shavrin, P.I.

1979-01-01

Carried out is the investigation of the 6-10 MeV electrons in the outer radiation belt of the Earth at the ''Prognoz-2'' artificial Earth satellite along the trajectory of the satellite motion according to the Mac Ilvain parameter L. With the help of a ternary coincidance telescope in Juny 1972, the formationand decay of the belt of energetic electrons with the maximum intensity in the L=3.7 region was recorded. The maximum fluxer of this belt electrons are estimated. It is supposed that the event recorded is the consequence of the magnetospherical disturbance that occured on 18.4.1972

Radiation damage produced by swift heavy ions in rare earth phosphates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romanenko, Anton

2017-01-01

This work is devoted to the study of radiation damage produced by swift heavy ions in rare earth phosphates, materials that are considered as perspective for radioactive waste storage. Single crystals of rare earth phosphates were exposed to 2.1 GeV gold (Au) and 1.5 GeV xenon (Xe) ions of and analyzed mainly by Raman spectroscopy. All phosphates were found almost completely amorphous after the irradiation by 2.1 GeV Au ions at a fluence of 1 x 10 13 ions/cm 2 . Radiation-induced changes in the Raman spectra include the intensity decrease of all Raman bands accompanied by the appearance of broad humps and a reduction of the pronounced luminescence present in virgin samples. Analyzing the Raman peak intensities as a function of irradiation fluence allowed the calculation of the track radii for 2.1 GeV Au ions in several rare earth phosphates, which appear to be about 5.0 nm for all studied samples. Series of samples were studied to search for a trend of the track radius depending on the rare earth element (REE) cation. Among the monoclinic phosphates both Raman and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) suggest no significant change of the track radius with increasing REE mass. In contrast, within the tetragonal phosphates Raman spectroscopy data suggests a possible slight decreasing trend of the track radius with the increase of REE atomic number. That finding, however, requires further investigation due to the low reliability of the qualitative Raman analysis. Detailed analysis of Raman spectra in HoPO 4 showed the increase of peak width at the initial stage of the irradiation and subsequent decrease to a steady value at higher fluences. This observation suggested the existence of a defect halo around the amorphous tracks in HoPO 4 . Raman peaks were found to initially shift to lower wavenumbers with reversing this trend at the fluence of 5 x 10 11 for NdPO 4 and 1 x 10 12 ions/cm 2 for HoPO 4 . At the next fluence steps peaks moved in the other direction, passed

Comparing a Carbon Budget for the Amazon Basin Derived from Aircraft Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, V. Y.; Dayalu, A.; Wofsy, S. C.; Gerbig, C.

2015-12-01

We present and compare a carbon budget for the Brazilian Amazon Basin based on the Balanço Atmosférico Regional de Carbono na Amazônia (BARCA) aircraft program, which occurred in November 2008 & May 2009, to other published carbon budgets. In particular, we compare our budget and analysis to others also derived from aircraft observations. Using mesoscale meteorological fields from ECMWF and WRF, we drive the Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (STILT) model and couple the footprint, or influence, to a biosphere model represented by the Vegetation Photosynthesis Respiration Model (VPRM). Since it is the main driver for the VPRM, we use observed shortwave radiation from towers in Brazil and French Guyana to examine the modeled shortwave radiation data from GL 1.2 (a global radiation model based on GOES 8 visible imagery), ECMWF, and WRF to determine if there are any biases in the modeled shortwave radiation output. We use WRF-STILT and ECMWF-STILT, GL 1.2 shortwave radiation, temperature, and vegetation maps (IGBP and SYNMAP) updated by landuse scenarios modeled by Sim Amazonia 2 and Sim Brazil, to compute hourly a priori CO2 fluxes by calculating Gross Ecosystem Exchange and Respiration for the 4 significant vegetation types across two (wet and dry) seasons as defined by 10-years of averaged TRIMM precipitation data. SF6 from stations and aircraft observations are used to determine the anthropogenic CO2 background and the lateral boundary conditions are taken from CarbonTracker2013B. The BARCA aircraft mixing ratios are then used as a top down constraint in an inversion framework that solves for the parameters controlling the fluxes for each vegetation type. The inversion provides scaling factors for GEE and R for each vegetation type in each season. From there, we derive a budget for the Basin and compare/contrast with other published basinwide CO2 fluxes.

Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) > Budget Materials > Budget1998

Science.gov (United States)

functionalStatements OUSD(C) History FMR Budget Materials Budget Execution Financial Management Improving Financial Performance Reports Regulations banner DoD Budget Request 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 President's Budget request for the Department of Defense sustains the President's commitment to invest in

Evaluation of thermal control coatings for use on solar dynamic radiators in low earth orbit

Science.gov (United States)

Dever, Joyce A.; Rodriguez, Elvin; Slemp, Wayne S.; Stoyack, Joseph E.

1991-01-01

Thermal control coatings with high thermal emittance and low solar absorptance are needed for Space Station Freedom (SSF) solar dynamic power module radiator (SDR) surfaces for efficient heat rejection. Additionally, these coatings must be durable to low earth orbital (LEO) environmental effects of atomic oxygen, ultraviolet radiation and deep thermal cycles which occur as a result of start-up and shut-down of the solar dynamic power system. Eleven candidate coatings were characterized for their solar absorptance and emittance before and after exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation (200 to 400 nm), vacuum UV (VUV) radiation (100 to 200 nm) and atomic oxygen. Results indicated that the most durable and best performing coatings were white paint thermal control coatings Z-93, zinc oxide pigment in potassium silicate binder, and YB-71, zinc orthotitanate pigment in potassium silicate binder. Optical micrographs of these materials exposed to the individual environmental effects of atomic oxygen and vacuum thermal cycling showed that no surface cracking occurred.

Assimilation of Earth rotation parameters into a global ocean model (FESOM)

Science.gov (United States)

Androsov, A.; Schröter, J.; Brunnabend, S.; Saynisch, J.

2012-04-01

Earth Rotation Parameters (ERP) are used to improve estimates of the ocean circulation and mass budget. GRACE data can be used for verification or for further improvements. The Finite Element Sea-ice Ocean Model (FESOM) is used to simulate weekly ocean circulation and mass variations. The FESOM model is a hydrostatic ocean circulation model with a fully non-linear free surface. It solves the hydrostatic primitive equations with volume (Boussinesq approximation) and mass (Greatbatch correction) conservation. Fresh water exchange with the atmosphere and land is modelled as mass flux. This flux is the weakest part of the mass budget as it is the difference of large and uncertain quantities: evaporation, precipitation and river runoff. All uncertainties included in these parameters are directly reflected in the model results. ERP help in closing the budget in a realistic manner. Our strategy is designed for testing parametric estimation on a weekly basis. First, Oceanographic Earth rotation parameters (OERP) are calculated by subtracting atmospheric and hydrologic estimates from observed ERP. They are compared to OERP derived from a global ocean circulation model. The difference can be inverted to diagnose a correction of the oceanic mass budget. Additionally mass variations measured by GRACE are used for verification. In a second step, the global mass correction parameter, derived by the inversion, is used to improve the fresh water budget of FESOM.

Magnitude of Solar Radiation Torque in the Transition Region from the Umbra to the Dark Shadow of the Earth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cabette, R E S; Kolesnikov, I; Zanardi, M C

2015-01-01

The analysis of solar radiation pressure force and its influence on the motion of artificial satellites has been developed by researchers. Accurate models to describe the influence of the Earth's shadow on the torque and force due to solar radiation pressure have been presented. In this work the solar radiation torque (SRT) and its influence on the attitude of an artificial satellite are taken into account by the introduction of the Earth's shadow function in the equations of motion. This function assumes a unitary value when the satellite is in the fully illuminated region of its orbit, and the value zero for the full shade region. The main objective of this study is to analyze the magnitude of SRT using the equations described by quaternions during a 35 day period and to compare the results with the satellite transition through the shadow region and the time interval in this region. The duration and transition through the shadow region were obtained using the software 'Shadow Conditions of Earth Satellites'. The formulation is applied to the Brazilian Data Collection Satellites SCD1 and SCD2, and the torque model is presented in terms of the satellite attitude quaternion, distance of the satellite to the Sun, orbital elements, right ascension and declination of the Sun. (paper)

Large differences in the diabatic heat budget of the tropical UTLS in reanalyses

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, J. S.; Fueglistaler, S.

2013-04-01

We present the time mean heat budgets of the tropical upper troposphere (UT) and lower stratosphere (LS) as simulated by five reanalysis models: MERRA, ERA-Interim, CFSR, JRA-25/JCDAS, and NCEP/NCAR. The simulated diabatic heat budget in the tropical UTLS differs significantly from model to model, with substantial implications for representations of transport and mixing. Large differences are apparent both in the net heat budget and in all comparable individual components, including latent heating, heating due to radiative transfer, and heating due to parameterised vertical mixing. We describe and discuss the most pronounced differences. Although they may be expected given difficulties in representing moist convection in models, the discrepancies in latent heating are still disturbing. We pay particular attention to discrepancies in radiative heating (which may be surprising given the strength of observational constraints on temperature and tropospheric water vapour) and discrepancies in heating due to turbulent mixing (which have received comparatively little attention).

Budget Options

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2000-01-01

This volume-part of the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) annual report to the House and Senate Committees on the Budget-is intended to help inform policymakers about options for the federal budget...

Radiation closure and diurnal cycle of the clear-sky dust instantaneous direct radiative forcing over Arabian Peninsula

KAUST Repository

Osipov, Sergey

2015-04-01

To better quantify radiative effects of dust over the Arabian Peninsula we have developed a standalone column radiation transport model coupled with the Mie calculations and driven by reanalysis meteorological fields and atmospheric composition. Numerical experiments are carried out for a wide range of aerosol optical depths, including extreme values developed during the dust storm on 18-20 March 2012. Comprehensive ground-based observations and satellite retrievals are used to estimate aerosol optical properties, validate calculations and carry out radiation closure. The broadband surface albedo, fluxes at the bottom and top of the atmosphere as well as instantaneous dust radiative forcing are estimated both from the model and from observations. Diurnal cycle of the the shortwave instantaneous dust direct radiative forcing is studied for a range of aerosol and surface characteristics representative for the Arabian Peninsula. Mechanisms and parameters responsible for diurnal variability of the radiative forcing are evaluated. We found that intrinsic variability of the surface albedo and its dependence on atmospheric conditions along with anisotropic aerosol scattering are mostly responsible for diurnal effects. We also discuss estimates of the climatological dust instantaneous direct radiative forcing over land and the Red Sea using two approaches. The first approach is based on the probability density function of the aerosol optical depth, and the second is based on the climatologically average Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) aerosol optical depth. Results are compared with Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) derived top of the atmosphere climatological forcing over the Red Sea.

Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Journal of Earth System Science; Volume 113; Issue 3. The vorticity and angular momentum budgets of Asian summer monsoon ... School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4K1.

Earth Radiation Imbalance from a Constellation of 66 Iridium Satellites: Technological Aspects

Science.gov (United States)

Wiscombe, W.; Chiu, C. J-Y.

2012-01-01

Iridium Communications Inc. is launching a new generation of polar orbiting communication satellites in 2015-2017. Iridium will provide a hosted payload bay on each of the 66 satellites (plus 6 in-space spares). This offers the potential for a paradigm shift in the way we measure Earth radiation imbalance from space, as well as massive cost savings. Because the constellation provides 24/7 global coverage, there is no need to account for diurnal cycle via extrapolations from uncalibrated narrowband geostationary imagers. And the spares can be rolled over to view the Sun and deep space, then transfer their calibration to the other members of the constellation during the frequent cross-overs. In part using simulations of the constellation viewing realistic Earth scenes, this presentation will address the technological aspects of such a constellation: (1) the calibration strategy; (2) the highly-accurate and stable radiometers for measuring outgoing flux; and (3) the GRACE-inspired algorithms for representing the outgoing flux field in spherical harmonics and thus achieving rv500-km spatial resolution and two-hour temporal resolution.

1981 research programme and budget of Hahn-Meitner-Institut fuer Kernforschung Berlin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1981-01-01

Hahn-Meitner-Institut fuer Kernforschung Berlin (HMI) is one of the twelve large research centers of the Federal Republic of Germany; like the other centers, it has to present a combined research programme and budget (programme budget) every year. In these programme budgets, as in the medium-term financial planning in the federal budget, planning for the current year is combined with a medium-term plan for the three next years. For the year 1981, the budget of HMI includes a total expenditure of about DM 85 million, DM 71.2 million of which are direct R + D expenditures. This R + D programme is carried by 396 of the total staff of 705. Research is done in the following fields (approximate figures): Heavy ion physics DM 23.0 million. Radiation- and photochemistry DM 11.4 million. Solid state research DM 20.9 million. Nuclear chemistry DM 8.9 million. Data processing/electronics DM 7.0 million. (orig./UA) [de

Astrophysical Ionizing Radiation and Earth: A Brief Review and Census of Intermittent Intense Sources

Science.gov (United States)

Melott, Adrian L.; Thomas, Brian C.

2011-05-01

Cosmic radiation backgrounds are a constraint on life, and their distribution will affect the Galactic Habitable Zone. Life on Earth has developed in the context of these backgrounds, and characterizing event rates will elaborate the important influences. This in turn can be a base for comparison with other potential life-bearing planets. In this review, we estimate the intensities and rates of occurrence of many kinds of strong radiation bursts by astrophysical entities, ranging from gamma-ray bursts at cosmological distances to the Sun itself. Many of these present potential hazards to the biosphere; on timescales long compared with human history, the probability of an event intense enough to disrupt life on the land surface or in the oceans becomes large. Both photons (e.g., X-rays) and high-energy protons and other nuclei (often called "cosmic rays") constitute hazards. For either species, one of the mechanisms that comes into play even at moderate intensities is the ionization of Earth's atmosphere, which leads through chemical changes (specifically, depletion of stratospheric ozone) to increased ultraviolet B flux from the Sun reaching the surface. UVB is extremely hazardous to most life due to its strong absorption by the genetic material DNA and subsequent breaking of chemical bonds. This often leads to mutation or cell death. It is easily lethal to the microorganisms that lie at the base of the food chain in the ocean. We enumerate the known sources of radiation and characterize their intensities at Earth and rates or upper limits on these quantities. When possible, we estimate a "lethal interval," our best estimate of how often a major extinction-level event is probable given the current state of knowledge; we base these estimates on computed or expected depletion of stratospheric ozone. In general, moderate-level events are dominated by the Sun, but the far more severe infrequent events are probably dominated by gamma-ray bursts and supernovae. We note

Astrophysical ionizing radiation and Earth: a brief review and census of intermittent intense sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Melott, Adrian L; Thomas, Brian C

2011-05-01

Cosmic radiation backgrounds are a constraint on life, and their distribution will affect the Galactic Habitable Zone. Life on Earth has developed in the context of these backgrounds, and characterizing event rates will elaborate the important influences. This in turn can be a base for comparison with other potential life-bearing planets. In this review, we estimate the intensities and rates of occurrence of many kinds of strong radiation bursts by astrophysical entities, ranging from gamma-ray bursts at cosmological distances to the Sun itself. Many of these present potential hazards to the biosphere; on timescales long compared with human history, the probability of an event intense enough to disrupt life on the land surface or in the oceans becomes large. Both photons (e.g., X-rays) and high-energy protons and other nuclei (often called "cosmic rays") constitute hazards. For either species, one of the mechanisms that comes into play even at moderate intensities is the ionization of Earth's atmosphere, which leads through chemical changes (specifically, depletion of stratospheric ozone) to increased ultraviolet B flux from the Sun reaching the surface. UVB is extremely hazardous to most life due to its strong absorption by the genetic material DNA and subsequent breaking of chemical bonds. This often leads to mutation or cell death. It is easily lethal to the microorganisms that lie at the base of the food chain in the ocean. We enumerate the known sources of radiation and characterize their intensities at Earth and rates or upper limits on these quantities. When possible, we estimate a "lethal interval," our best estimate of how often a major extinction-level event is probable given the current state of knowledge; we base these estimates on computed or expected depletion of stratospheric ozone. In general, moderate-level events are dominated by the Sun, but the far more severe infrequent events are probably dominated by gamma-ray bursts and supernovae. We note

Radiation damage produced by swift heavy ions in rare earth phosphates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romanenko, Anton

2017-02-13

This work is devoted to the study of radiation damage produced by swift heavy ions in rare earth phosphates, materials that are considered as perspective for radioactive waste storage. Single crystals of rare earth phosphates were exposed to 2.1 GeV gold (Au) and 1.5 GeV xenon (Xe) ions of and analyzed mainly by Raman spectroscopy. All phosphates were found almost completely amorphous after the irradiation by 2.1 GeV Au ions at a fluence of 1 x 10{sup 13} ions/cm{sup 2}. Radiation-induced changes in the Raman spectra include the intensity decrease of all Raman bands accompanied by the appearance of broad humps and a reduction of the pronounced luminescence present in virgin samples. Analyzing the Raman peak intensities as a function of irradiation fluence allowed the calculation of the track radii for 2.1 GeV Au ions in several rare earth phosphates, which appear to be about 5.0 nm for all studied samples. Series of samples were studied to search for a trend of the track radius depending on the rare earth element (REE) cation. Among the monoclinic phosphates both Raman and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) suggest no significant change of the track radius with increasing REE mass. In contrast, within the tetragonal phosphates Raman spectroscopy data suggests a possible slight decreasing trend of the track radius with the increase of REE atomic number. That finding, however, requires further investigation due to the low reliability of the qualitative Raman analysis. Detailed analysis of Raman spectra in HoPO{sub 4} showed the increase of peak width at the initial stage of the irradiation and subsequent decrease to a steady value at higher fluences. This observation suggested the existence of a defect halo around the amorphous tracks in HoPO{sub 4}. Raman peaks were found to initially shift to lower wavenumbers with reversing this trend at the fluence of 5 x 10{sup 11} for NdPO{sub 4} and 1 x 10{sup 12} ions/cm{sup 2} for HoPO{sub 4}. At the next fluence steps

The Budget as a Management Tool: Zero Base Budgeting, Panacea ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nigeria has been experiencing difficulties in Budget implementation. The objective of this article is to present alternative forms of budgeting and after exposition on them, to recommend one that could mitigate budget implementation problem for Nigeria. Two types of budgeting addressed are incremental and zero-base.

Spatial and temporal variations of albedo and absorbed solar radiation during 2009 - 2016 from IKOR-M satellite program

Science.gov (United States)

Cherviakov, Maksim; Bogdanov, Mikhail; Spiryakhina, Anastasia; Shishkina, Elena; Surkova, Yana; Kulkova, Eugenia

2017-04-01

This report describes Earth's radiation budget IKOR-M satellite program which has been started in Russia. The first satellite "Meteor-M» No 1 of this project was put into orbit in September, 2009. The IKOR-M radiometer is a satellite instrument that measures reflected shortwave radiation (0.3-4.0 µm). It was created in Saratov State University and installed on Russian hydrometeorological satellites "Meteor-M" No 1 and No 2. Radiometer IKOR-M designed for satellite monitoring of the outgoing reflected short-wave radiation, which is one of the components of Earth's radiation budget. Such measurements can be used to derive Earth's surface albedo and absorbed solar radiation. This information also can be used in different models of long-term weather forecasts and in researches of climate change trends (Sklyarov et al., 2016). Satellite "Meteor-M" No 1 and No 2 are heliosynchronous that allows observing from North to South Poles. The basic products of data processing are given in the form of global maps of distribution outgoing short-wave radiation (OSR), albedo and absorbed solar radiation (ASR). Such maps were made for each month during observation period. The IKOR-M product archive is available online at all times. A searchable catalogue of data products is continually updated and users may search and download data products via the Earth radiation balance components research laboratory website (http://www.sgu.ru/structure/geographic/metclim/balans) as soon as they become available. Two series of measurements from two different IKOR-M are available. The first radiometer had worked from October, 2009 to August, 2014 and second - from August, 2014 to the present. Therefore, there is a period when both radiometers work at the same time. Top-of-atmosphere fluxes deduced from the "Meteor-M" No 1 measurements in August, 2014 show very good agreement with the fluxes determined from "Meteor-M" No 2 (Bogdanov et al., 2016). The effect of aging is investigated for first IKOR

A Comprehensive Radial Velocity Error Budget for Next Generation Doppler Spectrometers

Science.gov (United States)

Halverson, Samuel; Ryan, Terrien; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Roy, Arpita; Bender, Chad; Stefansson, Guomundur Kari; Monson, Andrew; Levi, Eric; Hearty, Fred; Blake, Cullen;

Measurement of small antenna reflector losses for radiometer calibration budget

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skou, Niels

1997-01-01

Antenna reflector losses play an important role in the calibration budget for a microwave radiometer. If the losses are small, they are difficult to measure by traditional means. However, they can be assessed directly by radiometric means using the sky brightness temperature as incident radiation...

Do budget balance rules anchor budget balance expectations? -- Some international evidence

OpenAIRE

Rülke, Jan-Christoph; Frenkel, Michael; Lis, Eliza

2013-01-01

This is the first study that analyzes whether budget balance expectations are anchored and whether budget balance rules effectively anchor expectations. To this end, we use a unique data set which covers budget balance expectations in 17 countries that implemented a budget balance rules. While our results are mixed concerning the general impact of budget balance rules on anchoring expectations, we do find that specific features of budget balance rules are important to successfully anchor budg...

Cosmic radiation monitoring at low-Earth orbit by means of thermoluminescence and plastic nuclear track detectors

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Ambrožová, Iva; Pachnerová Brabcová, Kateřina; Kubančák, Ján; Šlegl, Jakub; Tolochek, R. V.; Ivanova, O. A.; Shurshakov, V. A.

2017-01-01

Roč. 106, č. 12 (2017), s. 262-266 ISSN 1350-4487 R&D Projects: GA ČR GJ15-16622Y Institutional support: RVO:61389005 Keywords : BION-M1 * cosmic radiation * low earth orbit * passive detector * thermoluminescent detector * plastic nuclear track detector Subject RIV: BG - Nuclear, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Colliders OBOR OECD: Nuclear physics Impact factor: 1.442, year: 2016

Is Zero-Based Budgeting Different from Planning--Programming--Budgeting Systems?

Science.gov (United States)

Hentschke, Guilbert C.

1977-01-01

Successful adoption of zero-base budgeting (ZBB) will be greater than that of planning-programming-budgeting-systems (PPBS) because perceived problems inherent in PPBS are largely missing in ZBB; ZBB appears to fit current school district budgeting behavior; and ZBB seems to improve communication about the need for budget reform. (Author/IRT)

Hazards of cosmic radiation; Radiation cosmique: danger dans l'espace

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonnet-Bidaud, J M; Dzitko, H

2000-06-01

The main limitations on long-distance space transport is neither the energy source nor the propulsion system but appears to be the protection of cosmonauts from radiation. Cosmic radiation is made up of protons (87%), alpha particles (12%) and heavy nuclei (1%), all these particles travel through interstellar space and come from the explosion of stars at the end of their life. The earth is protected from cosmic radiation by 3 natural shields: (i) the magnetic field generated by the solar wind, (ii) the earth magnetic field (magnetosphere), and (iii) the earth atmosphere, this elusive layer of air is equivalent to a 10 meter-high volume of water. Magnetosphere and atmosphere reduce the radiation dose by a factor 4000. According to a European directive (1996) air crews must be considered as radiation workers. (A.C.)

Cosmic radiation and the Earth rotation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pil'nik, G.P.

1986-01-01

On the basis of classical astronomical observations of time, waves of nonuniformity in the Earth rotation were found. The wave with the period of 159sup(m).566 is very close to the period of global oscillations of the Sun surface 160sup(m).r-1 and to the period of the Germinga gamma-ray radiatnon 159sup(m).96. The necessity is pointed out of a detailed study of the Earth rotation in the days of great developments of astrophysical and geophysical research

Radiation Field Forming for Industrial Electron Accelerators Using Rare-Earth Magnetic Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Ermakov, A. N.; Khankin, V. V.; Shvedunov, N. V.; Shvedunov, V. I.; Yurov, D. S.

2016-09-01

The article describes the radiation field forming system for industrial electron accelerators, which would have uniform distribution of linear charge density at the surface of an item being irradiated perpendicular to the direction of its motion. Its main element is non-linear quadrupole lens made with the use of rare-earth magnetic materials. The proposed system has a number of advantages over traditional beam scanning systems that use electromagnets, including easier product irradiation planning, lower instantaneous local dose rate, smaller size, lower cost. Provided are the calculation results for a 10 MeV industrial electron accelerator, as well as measurement results for current distribution in the prototype build based on calculations.

A three-dimensional phase space dynamical model of the Earth's radiation belt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boscher, D. M.; Beutier, T.; Bourdarie, S.

1996-01-01

A three dimensional phase space model of the Earth's radiation belt is presented. We have taken into account the magnetic and electric radial diffusions, the pitch angle diffusions due to Coulomb interactions and interactions with the plasmaspheric hiss, and the Coulomb drag. First, a steady state of the belt is presented. Two main maxima are obtained, corresponding to the inner and outer parts of the belt. Then, we have modelled a simple injection at the external boundary. The particle transport seems like what was measured aboard satellites. A high energy particle loss is found, by comparing the model results and the measurements. It remains to be explained

The increased use of radiation requires enhanced activities regarding radiation safety control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yun Jong; Lee, Jin Woo; Jeong, Gyo Seong

2015-01-01

More recently, companies that have obtained permission to use radioactive materials or radiation device and registered radiation workers have increased by 10% and 4% respectively. The increased use of radiation could have an effect on radiation safety control. However, there is not nearly enough manpower and budget compared to the number of workers and facilities. This paper will suggest a counteroffer thought analyzing pending issues. The results of this paper indicate that there are 47 and 31.3 workers per radiation protection officer in educational and research institutes, respectively. There are 20.1 persons per RPO in hospitals, even though there are 2 RPOs appointed. Those with a special license as a radioisotope handler were ruled out as possible managers because medical doctors who have a special license for radioisotope handling normally have no experience with radiation safety. The number of staff members and budget have been insufficient for safety control at most educational and research institutes. It is necessary to build an optimized safety control system for effective Radiation Safety Control. This will reduce the risk factor of safety, and a few RPOs can be supplied for efficiency and convenience

The increased use of radiation requires enhanced activities regarding radiation safety control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Yun Jong; Lee, Jin Woo; Jeong, Gyo Seong [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Jeongeup (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

More recently, companies that have obtained permission to use radioactive materials or radiation device and registered radiation workers have increased by 10% and 4% respectively. The increased use of radiation could have an effect on radiation safety control. However, there is not nearly enough manpower and budget compared to the number of workers and facilities. This paper will suggest a counteroffer thought analyzing pending issues. The results of this paper indicate that there are 47 and 31.3 workers per radiation protection officer in educational and research institutes, respectively. There are 20.1 persons per RPO in hospitals, even though there are 2 RPOs appointed. Those with a special license as a radioisotope handler were ruled out as possible managers because medical doctors who have a special license for radioisotope handling normally have no experience with radiation safety. The number of staff members and budget have been insufficient for safety control at most educational and research institutes. It is necessary to build an optimized safety control system for effective Radiation Safety Control. This will reduce the risk factor of safety, and a few RPOs can be supplied for efficiency and convenience.

Home - House Budget Committee

Science.gov (United States)

Initiatives Hearings Full Menu About Toggle Links Members History Staff Rules & Budget Law News Toggle Links Press Releases Budget Digests HBC Publications Op-Eds Speeches & Statements Budgets Toggle Links FY 2018 Budget FY 2017 Budget FY 2017 Reconciliation FY 2016 Budget FY 2016 Reconciliation FY 2015

Late Budgets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Asger Lau; Lassen, David Dreyer; Nielsen, Lasse Holbøll Westh

are negative rather than positive; and when there is divided government. We test the hypotheses of the model using a unique data set of late budgets for US state governments, based on dates of budget approval collected from news reports and a survey of state budget o¢ cers for the period 1988...

Clinical comparison of high-speed rare-earth screen and par-speed screen for diagnostic efficacy and radiation dosage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, T.; Becker, J.A.; Olson, A.P.

1982-01-01

One hundred patients underwent excretory urography and a comparison was made of ten-minute, well-collimated images that were obtained with both par-speed and rare-earth screens, the latter being 6.5 times faster than the par-speed calcium tungstate screens. Radiation dose was greatly reduced with the rare-earth screens. There were fewer inferior examinations, even though fine detail was imaged poorly, and there was a slightly increased quantum mottle, which was only a minor problem at this low 65 kVp. Since quantum mottle increases with kVp, however, our results are not applicable to higher kVp examinations. Despite reduced detail and increased mottle, the overall image quality obtained with the rare-earth screen was superior to the image quality obtained with the par-speed screen

Zero-based budgeting: Pathway to sustainable budget implementation in Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Udeh Francis Nnoli

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the application of Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB system to budget implementation by the Federal Government of Nigeria by ascertaining among others, the relationship between ZBB approach and budget performance indices in Nigeria. To achieve the above, primary data were obtained through questionnaires that were specifically designed for this study. The data obtained were analysed with the SPSS version 21. The statistical tools employed were Analysis of Variance (ANOVA and Pearson Correlation Coefficiant (PCC. The Cronbach’s Alpha reliability test was used to test the internal consistency/reliability of the instrument used for the study. On the basis of the analysis, we found that there is significant difference in the effectiveness of ZBB in terms of budget implementation compared to the Traditional Budgeting System (TBS. It was also found that the application of ZBB tend to be performance-driven and is able to detect the redundant programmes/projects and staff, thereby recommending either realignment, discharge, transfer or redeployment of projects or resources. The study therefore, recommends among others that ZBB should be encouraged as a good means of budget implementation and also close monitoring of budget execution should be enshrined in work ethics at every stage of budget preparation and implementation in the country. This is believed would go a long way to strengthen measures aimed at mitigating poor budget implementation in the country.

Responses of membrane lipid peroxidation and endogenous hormones of soybean seedlings to UV-B radiation and rare earth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Shengrong; Yang Chunhe; Zhang Yuequn

2009-01-01

[Objective] The aim was to provide strategies for development of rare earth and control of environmental pollution. [Method] Responses of membrane lipid peroxidation and endogenous hormones of soybean seedlings to UV-B radiation and rare earth were studied through hydroponics in laboratory. [Result] The results showed that under irradiation of UV-B(T1-0.15 W/m2 and T2-0.45 W/m2), chlorophyll and indole-3-acetic acid(IAA) contents firstly decreased during the stress phase (1-5d) and then increased during the restoration phase (6-9d) while contents of malonadialdehyde(MDA) and abscisic acid(ABA) gradually increased during the imposition of UV-B radiation (1-5d) and subsequently decreased during recovery from UV-B stress (6-9d) . With adding of La (Ⅲ) with the concentration of 20mg•L-1, the decline/rise trend of chlorophyll, IAA, MDA and ABA contents was slowed down during the stress period while the rise/decline speed was accelerated during the recovery period. [Conclusion] It suggests that the regulation of La (Ⅲ) on membrane lipid peroxidation and endogenous hormones could increase chlorophyll and IAA contents, improve the metabolism of reactive oxygen species (ROS), inhibit membrane lipid peroxidation, decrease the accumulation amount of ABA and alleviate injury of UV-B radiation to soybean seedlings. Further, the protective potential of La (Ⅲ) was better under low UV-B radiation than under high one

Space radiation environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garrett, H.B.

1998-01-01

Coupled with the increasing concern over trapped radiation effects on microelectronics, the availability of new data, long term changes in the Earth's magnetic field, and observed variations in the trapped radiation fluxes have generated the need for better, more comprehensive tools for modeling and predicting the Earth's trapped radiation environment and its effects on space systems. The objective of this report is to describe the current status of those efforts and review methods for attacking the issues associated with modeling the trapped radiation environment in a systematic, practical fashion. The ultimate goal will be to point the way to increasingly better methods of testing, designing, and flying reliable microelectronic systems in the Earth's radiation environment. The review will include a description of the principal models of the trapped radiation environment currently available--the AE8 and AP8 models. Recent results rom radiation experiments on spacecraft such as CRRES, SAMPEX, and CLEMENTINE will then be described. (author)

California Budget Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Mallinson, Daniel J.

2018-01-01

The California Budget Challenge produced by Next10 provides a useful and intuitive tool for instructors to introduce students to public budgeting. Students will reason through a series of budgeting decisions using information provided on the fiscal and practical implications of their choices. The Challenge is updated with each budget cycle, so it…

Hazards of cosmic radiation; Radiation cosmique: danger dans l'espace

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonnet-Bidaud, J.M.; Dzitko, H

2000-06-01

The main limitations on long-distance space transport is neither the energy source nor the propulsion system but appears to be the protection of cosmonauts from radiation. Cosmic radiation is made up of protons (87%), alpha particles (12%) and heavy nuclei (1%), all these particles travel through interstellar space and come from the explosion of stars at the end of their life. The earth is protected from cosmic radiation by 3 natural shields: (i) the magnetic field generated by the solar wind, (ii) the earth magnetic field (magnetosphere), and (iii) the earth atmosphere, this elusive layer of air is equivalent to a 10 meter-high volume of water. Magnetosphere and atmosphere reduce the radiation dose by a factor 4000. According to a European directive (1996) air crews must be considered as radiation workers. (A.C.)

Budgeting for School Media Centers.

Science.gov (United States)

Drott, M. Carl

1978-01-01

Describes various forms of budgets and discusses concepts in budgeting useful to supervisors of school media centers: line item budgets, capital budgets, creating budgets, the budget calendar, innovations, PPBS (Planning, Programing, Budgeting System), zero-based budgeting, cost-benefit analysis, benefits, benefit guidelines, and budgeting for the…

Empirical model of the high-latitude boundary of the Earth's outer radiation belt at altitudes of up to 1000 km

Science.gov (United States)

Kalegaev, V. V.; Barinova, W. O.; Myagkova, I. N.; Eremeev, V. E.; Parunakyan, D. A.; Nguyen, M. D.; Barinov, O. G.

2018-01-01

An empirical model of the high-latitude boundary of the outer Earth's radiation belt (ERB) has been presented, which is based on the measurement data of electron fluxes on the polar low-orbit CORONAS-Photon, Meteor-M1, and Meteor-M2 satellites. The boundary was determined by a sharp decrease to the background level of the flux of trapped electrons with energies of 100 or 200 keV in the polar part of the profile of the outer radiation belt. A numerical algorithm has been implemented to determine the time moment, when the fastest flux changes are recorded. The primary search was carried out, first, on 30 s averaged data, then repeated on data with a higher resolution. A functional dependence was obtained in order to approximate the obtained set of intersections of the boundary by elliptical curve. The empirical model constructed using the CORONAS-Photon measurement data in the epoch of anomalously low geomagnetic activity reflects the longitude structure of the high-latitude boundary of the outer radiation belt associated with the internal Earth's magnetic field (MF), as well as its dependence on the universal time. Based on the data of intersections of the high-latitude boundary of the outer ERB (OERB) in the epoch of 2014-2016, the latitudinal shift of the boundary to the equator dependent on geomagnetic activity has been determined, as well as the nightside shift of the boundary due to the diurnal rotation of the Earth.

A parameterization for the absorption of solar radiation by water vapor in the earth's atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, W.-C.

1976-01-01

A parameterization for the absorption of solar radiation as a function of the amount of water vapor in the earth's atmosphere is obtained. Absorption computations are based on the Goody band model and the near-infrared absorption band data of Ludwig et al. A two-parameter Curtis-Godson approximation is used to treat the inhomogeneous atmosphere. Heating rates based on a frequently used one-parameter pressure-scaling approximation are also discussed and compared with the present parameterization.

Climate Model Evaluation using New Datasets from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES)

Science.gov (United States)

Loeb, Norman G.; Wielicki, Bruce A.; Doelling, David R.

2008-01-01

There are some in the science community who believe that the response of the climate system to anthropogenic radiative forcing is unpredictable and we should therefore call off the quest . The key limitation in climate predictability is associated with cloud feedback. Narrowing the uncertainty in cloud feedback (and therefore climate sensitivity) requires optimal use of the best available observations to evaluate and improve climate model processes and constrain climate model simulations over longer time scales. The Clouds and the Earth s Radiant Energy System (CERES) is a satellite-based program that provides global cloud, aerosol and radiative flux observations for improving our understanding of cloud-aerosol-radiation feedbacks in the Earth s climate system. CERES is the successor to the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE), which has widely been used to evaluate climate models both at short time scales (e.g., process studies) and at decadal time scales. A CERES instrument flew on the TRMM satellite and captured the dramatic 1998 El Nino, and four other CERES instruments are currently flying aboard the Terra and Aqua platforms. Plans are underway to fly the remaining copy of CERES on the upcoming NPP spacecraft (mid-2010 launch date). Every aspect of CERES represents a significant improvement over ERBE. While both CERES and ERBE measure broadband radiation, CERES calibration is a factor of 2 better than ERBE. In order to improve the characterization of clouds and aerosols within a CERES footprint, we use coincident higher-resolution imager observations (VIRS, MODIS or VIIRS) to provide a consistent cloud-aerosol-radiation dataset at climate accuracy. Improved radiative fluxes are obtained by using new CERES-derived Angular Distribution Models (ADMs) for converting measured radiances to fluxes. CERES radiative fluxes are a factor of 2 more accurate than ERBE overall, but the improvement by cloud type and at high latitudes can be as high as a factor of 5

Ionizing radiation in earth's atmosphere and in space near earth.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-01

The Civil Aerospace Medical Institute of the FAA is charged with identifying health hazards in air travel and in : commercial human space travel. This report addresses one of these hazards ionizing radiation. : Ionizing radiation is a subatomic p...

The BioSentinel Bioanalytical Microsystem: Characterizing DNA Radiation Damage in Living Organisms Beyond Earth Orbit

Science.gov (United States)

Ricco, A. J.; Hanel, R.; Bhattacharya, S.; Boone, T.; Tan, M.; Mousavi, A.; Rademacher, A.; Schooley, A.; Klamm, B.; Benton, J.;

Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The energy budget was strongly imbalanced: the latent heat flux was significantly higher than the sensible flux. The daily mean values of total solar radiation and net radiation were larger than those in Maqu grasslands and Jinta oasis. There was a temperature inversion and inverse humidity gradient in the atmospheric ...

Rare earth oxyhalogenide base thermoluminescent material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rabatin, J.G.

1976-01-01

A process is described that consists to expose a thermoluminescent material to ionizing radiations, the material being a rare earth oxyhalogenide with terbium additions, to heat this material up to the emission of visible radiations and to measure the emitted radiations which are proportional to the ionizing radiation dose [fr

Entropy Budget for Hawking Evaporation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Alonso-Serrano

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Blackbody radiation, emitted from a furnace and described by a Planck spectrum, contains (on average an entropy of 3 . 9 ± 2 . 5 bits per photon. Since normal physical burning is a unitary process, this amount of entropy is compensated by the same amount of “hidden information” in correlations between the photons. The importance of this result lies in the posterior extension of this argument to the Hawking radiation from black holes, demonstrating that the assumption of unitarity leads to a perfectly reasonable entropy/information budget for the evaporation process. In order to carry out this calculation, we adopt a variant of the “average subsystem” approach, but consider a tripartite pure system that includes the influence of the rest of the universe, and which allows “young” black holes to still have a non-zero entropy; which we identify with the standard Bekenstein entropy.

DCS Budget Tracking System

Data.gov (United States)

Social Security Administration — DCS Budget Tracking System database contains budget information for the Information Technology budget and the 'Other Objects' budget. This data allows for monitoring...

Shallow cumulus convection = Ondiepe cumulus convectie

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Neggers, R.

2002-01-01

Clouds play an important role in the earth's climate. Firstly, they are important in the radiative energy budget of the global atmosphere. Clouds absorb and reflect ultraviolet solar radiation, and emit infrared radiation depending on their temperature. Secondly, an