Saturn Atmospheric Structure and Dynamics

2 Saturn inhabits a dynamical regime of rapidly rotating, internally heated atmospheres similar to Jupiter. Zonal winds have remained fairly steady since the time of Voyager except in the equatorial zone and slightly stronger winds occur at deeper levels. Eddies supply energy to the jets at a rate somewhat less than on Jupiter and mix potential vorticity near westward jets. Convective clouds exist preferentially in cyclonic shear regions as on Jupiter but also near jets, including major outbreaks near 35°S associated with Saturn electrostatic discharges, and in sporadic giant equatorial storms perhaps generated from frequent events at depth. The implied meridional circulation at and below the visible cloud tops consists of upwelling (downwelling) at cyclonic (anti-cyclonic) shear latitudes. Thermal winds decay upward above the clouds, implying a reversal of the circulation there. Warm-core vortices with associated cyclonic circulations exist at both poles, including surrounding thick high clouds at the south pole. Disequilibrium gas concentrations in the tropical upper troposphere imply rising motion there. The radiative-convective boundary and tropopause occur at higher pressure in the southern (summer) hemisphere due to greater penetration of solar heating there. A temperature “knee ” of warm air below the tropopause, perhaps due to haze heating, is stronger in the summer hemisphere as well. Saturn’s south polar stratosphere is warmer than predicted by radiative models and enhanced in ethane, suggesting subsidence-driven adiabatic warming there. Recent modeling advances suggest that shallow weather laye

Global catastrophes in earth history: an interdiciplinary conference on impacts, volcanism, and mass mortality.

Topics addressed include Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinctions; geological indicators for meteorite collisions; carbon dioxide catastrophes; volcanism; climatic changes; geochemistry; mineralogy; fossil records; biospheric traumas; stratigraphy; mathematical models; and ocean dynamics

Fundamental Thermal Fluid Physics of High Temperature Flows in Advanced Reactor Systems - Nuclear Energy Research Initiative Program Interoffice Work Order (IWO) MSF99-0254 Final Report for Period 1 August 1999 to 31 December 2002

The ultimate goal of the study is the improvement of predictive methods for safety analyses and design of advanced reactors for higher efficiency and enhanced safety and for deployable reactors for electrical power generation, process heat utilization and hydrogen generation. While key applications would be advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGCRs) using the closed Brayton cycle (CBC) for higher efficiency (such as the proposed Gas Turbine - Modular Helium Reactor (GT-MHR) of General Atomics [Neylan and Simon, 1996]), results of the proposed research should also be valuable in reactor systems with supercritical flow or superheated vapors, e.g., steam. Higher efficiency leads to lower cost/kwh and reduces life-cycle impacts of radioactive waste (by reducing waters/kwh). The outcome will also be useful for some space power and propulsion concepts and for some fusion reactor concepts as side benefits, but they are not the thrusts of the investigation. The objective of the project is to provide fundamental thermal fluid physics knowledge and measurements necessary for the development of the improved methods for the applications