Atmospheric science

The following types of experiments for a proposed Space Station Microgravity Particle Research Facility are described: (1) growth of liquid water drop populations; (2) coalescence; (3) drop breakup; (4) breakup of freezing drops; (5) ice nucleation for large aerosols or bacteria; (6) scavenging of gases, for example, SO2 oxidation; (7) phoretic forces, i.e., thermophoresis versus diffusiophoresis; (8) Rayleigh bursting of drops; (9) charge separation due to collisions of rimed and unrimed ice; (10) charged drop dynamics; (11) growth of particles in other planetary atmospheres; and (12) freezing and liquid-liquid evaporation. The required capabilities and desired hardware for the facility are detailed

UTSI atmospheric science program

Two areas of research were carried out concerned with meteorological and environmental inputs to aviation systems. One effort dealt with the investigation of wind fields about bluff geometries typical of buildings or other man made obstructions to the surface wind and the behavior of craft flying through these disturbed wind fields. The second effort was the definition and mathematical models of atmospheric wind shear associated with thunderstorms, stable boundary layers, and synoptic fronts. These mathematical models can be utilized in flight simulators to train pilots and flight crews and to develop instrumentation for landing in adverse wind shear conditions

Report from upper atmospheric science

Most of the understanding of the thermosphere resulted from the analysis of data accrued through the Atmosphere Explorer satellites, the Dynamics Explorer 2 satellite, and observations from rockets, balloons, and ground based instruments. However, new questions were posed by the data that have not yet been answered. The mesosphere and lower thermosphere have been less thoroughly studied because of the difficulty of accessibility on a global scale, and many rather fundamental characteristics of these regions are not well understood. A wide variety of measurement platforms can be used to implement various parts of a measurement strategy, but the major thrusts of the International Solar Terrestrial Physics Program would require Explorer-class missions. A remote sensing mission to explore the mesosphere and lower thermosphere and one and two Explorer-type spacecraft to enable a mission into the thermosphere itself would provide the essential components of a productive program of exploration of this important region of the upper atomsphere. Theoretical mission options are explored

Atmospheric Science

An educational poster, together with brief explanatory notes, illustrating some of the many ways in which atmospheric conditions can vary. The images were taken by the Sky Camera at the NERC MST Radar Facility at Aberystwyth (UK)

Atmospheric Science and Remote Sensing Laboratory

During the contract year, scientific research on lightning and lightning hazards was carried out for the Atmospheric Electricity Group in the MSFC Remote Sensing Branch (ED43). These tasks included research on modeling the interaction of lightning optical pulses and cloud particles, estimating lightning hazard threats to the STS system, a small field project to determine the charge structure of winter and stratiform thunderstorms, and analysis of optical pulse data. These activities were performed in conjunction with the ED43 mission to develop a lightning mapper to be placed on one of the GOES-next operational satellites

Developments in upper atmospheric science during the IQSY

Vertical structure and temperature fluctuations in upper atmosphere, anomalies in ionosphere, and whistler identificatio

Atmospheric Science Librarians International (ASLI): professional organization for atmospheric science librarians [poster]

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Atmospheric Science at NASA

Honorable Mention, 2008 ASLI Choice Awards. Atmospheric Science Librarians InternationalThis book offers an informed and revealing account of NASA’s involvement in the scientific understanding of the Earth’s atmosphere. Since the nineteenth century, scientists have attempted to understand the complex processes of the Earth’s atmosphere and the weather created within it. This effort has evolved with the development of new technologies—from the first instrument-equipped weather balloons to multibillion-dollar meteorological satellite and planetary science programs. Erik M. Conway chronicles the history of atmospheric science at NASA, tracing the story from its beginnings in 1958, the International Geophysical Year, through to the present, focusing on NASA’s programs and research in meteorology, stratospheric ozone depletion, and planetary climates and global warming. But the story is not only a scientific one. NASA’s researchers operated within an often politically contentious environment. Although environmental issues garnered strong public and political support in the 1970s, the following decades saw increased opposition to environmentalism as a threat to free market capitalism. Atmospheric Science at NASA critically examines this politically controversial science, dissecting the often convoluted roles, motives, and relationships of the various institutional actors involved—among them NASA, congressional appropriation committees, government weather and climate bureaus, and the military