The transient development of a lee wave

A stream with an initially undisturbed free surface is set impulsively in motion and a (small) pressure perturbation is applied to the surface. The form of the free surface as a function of time is examined in detail up to the point where the disturbance is sensibly that of a steady-state lee wave

First global analysis of SEASAT scatterometer winds and potential for meteorological research

The first global wind fields from SEASAT-A scatterometer (SASS) data were produced. Fifteen days of record are available on tape, with unique wind directions indicated for each observation. The methodology of the production of this data set is described, as well as the testing of its validity. A number of displays of the data, on large and small scales, analyzed and gridded, are provided

A new parameterization of an empirical model for wind/ocean scatterometry

The power law form of the SEASAT A Scatterometer System (SASS) empirical backscatter-to-wind model function does not uniformly meet the instrument performance over the range 4 to 24 /ms. Analysis indicates that the horizontal polarization (H-Pol) and vertical polarization (V-Pol) components of the benchmark SASS1 model function yield self-consistent results only for a small mid-range of speeds at larger incidence angles, and for a somewhat larger range of speeds at smaller incidence angles. Comparison of SASS1 to in situ data over the Gulf of Alaska region further underscores the shortcomings of the power law form. Finally, a physically based empirical SASS model is proposed which corrects some of the deficiencies of power law models like SASS1. The new model allows the mutual determination of sea surface wind stress and wind speed in a consistent manner from SASS backscatter measurements

Perturbations of the Richardson number field by gravity waves

An analytic solution is presented for a stratified fluid of arbitrary constant Richardson number. By computer aided analysis the perturbation fields, including that of the Richardson number can be calculated. The results of the linear analytic model were compared with nonlinear simulations, leading to the following conclusions: (1) the perturbations in the Richardson number field, when small, are produced primarily by the perturbations of the shear; (2) perturbations of in the Richardson number field, even when small, are not symmetric, the increase being significantly larger than the decrease (the linear analytic solution and the nonlinear simulations both confirm this result); (3) as the perturbations grow, this asymmetry increases, but more so in the nonlinear simulations than in the linear analysis; (4) for large perturbations of the shear flow, the static stability, as represented by N2, is the dominating mechanism, becoming zero or negative, and producing convective overturning; and (5) the convectional measure of linearity in lee wave theory, NH/U, is no longer the critical parameter (it is suggested that (H/u sub 0) (du sub 0/dz) takes on this role in a shearing flow)

Using stochastic acceleration to place experimental limits on the charge of antihydrogen

Assuming hydrogen is charge neutral, CPT invariance demands that antihydrogen also be charge neutral. Quantum anomaly cancellation also demands that antihydrogen be charge neutral. Standard techniques based on measurements of macroscopic quantities of atoms cannot be used to measure the charge of antihydrogen. In this paper, we describe how the application of randomly oscillating electric fields to a sample of trapped antihydrogen atoms, a form of stochastic acceleration, can be used to place experimental limits on this charge

Simulation of electromagnetically and magnetically induced transparency in a magnetized plasma

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), a phenomenon well known in atomic systems, has a natural analogy in a classical magnetized plasma. The magnetized plasma has a resonance for right-hand polarized electromagnetic waves at the electron cyclotron frequency Omega(0), so that a probe wave with frequency omega(1) = Omega(0) cannot propagate through the plasma. The plasma can be made transparent to such a probe by the presence of a pump wave. The pump may be an electromagnetic wave or magnetostatic wiggler. Simulations and theory show that the physical reason for the transparency is that the beating of the probe wave with the pump wave sets up a plasma oscillation, and the upper sideband of the pump wave cancels the resonant plasma current due to the probe. The theory of plasma EIT derived here extends that found in the earlier work to include the effects of the lower sideband of the pump and renormalization of the plasma frequency and an analysis of the transient response. A detailed comparison of theory to one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations is presented and estimates for the performance ion accelerator using the EIT interaction are given. The dispersion relation and estimates for the phase velocity and amplitude of the plasma wave are in good agreement with particle-in-cell simulations.open151

Lee waves: Benign and malignant

The flow of an incompressible fluid over an obstacle will produce an oscillation in which buoyancy is the restoring force, called a gravity wave. For disturbances of this scale, the atmosphere may be treated as dynamically incompressible, even though there exists a mean static upward density gradient. Even in the linear approximation - i.e., for small disturbances - this model explains a great many of the flow phenomena observed in the lee of mountains. However, nonlinearities do arise importantly, in three ways: (1) through amplification due to the decrease of mean density with height; (2) through the large (scaled) size of the obstacle, such as a mountain range; and (3) from dynamically singular levels in the fluid field. These effects produce a complicated array of phenomena - large departure of the streamlines from their equilibrium levels, high winds, generation of small scales, turbulence, etc. - that present hazards to aircraft and to lee surface areas. The nonlinear disturbances also interact with the larger-scale flow in such a manner as to impact global weather forecasts and the climatological momentum balance. If there is no dynamic barrier, these waves can penetrate vertically into the middle atmosphere (30-100 km), where recent observations show them to be of a length scale that must involve the coriolis force in any modeling. At these altitudes, the amplitude of the waves is very large, and the phenomena associated with these wave dynamics are being studied with a view to their potential impact on high performance aircraft, including the projected National Aerospace Plane (NASP). The presentation shows the results of analysis and of state-of-the-art numerical simulations, validated where possible by observational data, and illustrated with photographs from nature

Varying chromaticity: A damping mechanism for the transverse head-tail instability

A detailed analytical and numerical study of the suppression of the transverse head-tail instability by modulating the chromaticity over a synchrotron period is presented. We find that a threshold can be developed, and it can be increased to a value larger than the strong head-tail instability threshold. The stability criterion derived agrees very well with the simulations. The underlying physical mechanisms of the damping scheme are rotation of the head-tail phase such that the instability does not occur, and Landau damping due to the incoherent betatron tune spread generated by the varying chromaticity. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society

Damping of the Transverse Head-Tail Instability by Periodic Modulation of the Chromaticity

An analytical and numerical study of the suppression of the transverse head-tail instability by modulating the chromaticity over a synchrotron period is presented. We find that a threshold can be developed, and it can be increased to a value larger than the strong head-tail instability threshold. The stability criterion derived agrees very well with the simulations. The underlying physical mechanisms of the damping scheme are rotation of the head-tail phase such that the instability does not occur, and Landau damping due to the incoherent betatron tune spread generated by the varying chromaticity. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society