Simulating planetary wave propagation to the upper atmosphere during stratospheric warming events at different mountain wave scenarios

Parameterization schemes of atmospheric normal modes (NMs) and orographic gravity waves (OGWs) have been implemented into the mechanistic Middle and Upper Atmosphere Model (MUAM) simulating atmospheric general circulation. Based on the 12-members ensemble of runs with the MUAM, a composite of the stratospheric warming (SW) has been constructed using the UK Met Office data as the lower boundary conditions. The simulation results show that OGW amplitudes increase at altitudes above 30 km in the Northern Hemisphere after the SW event. At altitudes of about 50 km, OGWs have largest amplitudes over North American and European mountain systems before and during the composite SW, and over Himalayas after the SW. Simulations demonstrate substantial (up to 50–70%) variations of amplitudes of stationary planetary waves (PWs) during and after the SW in the mesosphere-lower thermosphere of the Northern Hemisphere. Westward travelling NMs have amplitude maxima not only in the Northern, but also in the Southern Hemisphere, where these modes have waveguides in the middle and upper atmosphere. Simulated variations of PW and NM amplitudes correspond to changes in the mean zonal wind, EP-fluxes and wave refractive index at different phases of the composite SW events. Inclusion of the parameterization of OGW effects leads to decreases in amplitudes (up to 15%) of almost all SPWs before and after the SW event and their increase (up to 40–60%) after the SW in the stratosphere and mesosphere at middle and high northern latitudes. It is suggested that observed changes in NM amplitudes in the Southern Hemisphere during SW could be caused by divergence of increased southward EP-flux. This EP-flux increases due to OGW drag before SW and extends into the Southern Hemisphere.     

Disk Evolution and the Fate of Water

Space Science Reviews - We review the general theoretical concepts and observational constraints on the distribution and evolution of water vapor and ice in protoplanetary disks, with a focus on...     

Gravity wave momentum flux generation close to mid-latitude Andes in mesoscale simulations of late 20th and 21st centuries

Adequate representations of diverse dynamical processes in general circulation models (GCM) are necessary to obtain reliable simulations of the present and the future. The parameterization of orographic gravity wave drag (GWD) is one of the critical components of GCM. It is therefore convenient to evaluate whether standard orographic GWD parameterizations are appropriate. One alternative is to study the generation of gravity waves (GW) with horizontal resolutions that are higher than those used in current GCM simulations. Here we assess the seasonal pattern of topographic GW momentum flux (GWMF) generation for the late 20th and 21st centuries in a downscaling using the Rossby Centre regional atmospheric model under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change A1B emission conditions. We focus on one of the world’s strongest extra-tropical GW zones, the Andes Mountains at mid-latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere. The presence of two GCM sub-grid scale structures locally contributing to GWMF (one positive and one negative) is found to the East of the mountains. For the late 21st century the strength of these structures during the GW high season increases around 23% with respect to the late 20th century, but the GWMF average over GCM grid cell scales remains negative and nearly constant around −0.015 Pa. This constitutes a steady significant contribution during GW high season, which is not related to the GWMF released by individual sporadic strong GW events. This characteristic agrees with the fact that no statistically significant variation in GWMF at source level has been observed in recent GCM simulations of atmospheric change induced by increases in greenhouse gases.     

Numerical modeling of inhomogeneous orographic wave influence on planetary waves in the middle atmosphere

Parameterization of dynamical and thermal effects of stationary orographic gravity waves (OGWs) generated by the Earth’s surface topography is incorporated into a numerical model of general circulation of the middle and upper atmosphere. Responses of atmospheric general circulation and characteristics of planetary waves at altitudes from the troposphere up to the thermosphere to the effects of OGWs propagating from the earth surface are studied. Changes in atmospheric circulation and amplitudes of planetary waves due to variations of OGW generation and propagation in different seasons are considered. It is shown that during solstices the main OGW dynamical and heat effects occur in the middle atmosphere of winter hemispheres, where changes in planetary wave amplitudes due to OGWs may reach up to 50%. During equinoxes OGW effects are distributed more homogeneously between northern and southern hemispheres.     

The ‘soot line’: Destruction of presolar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the terrestrial planet-forming region of disks

Interstellar material is highly processed when subjected to the physical conditions that prevail in the inner regions of protoplanetary disks, the potential birthplace of habitable planets. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are abundant in the interstellar medium, and they have also been observed in the disks around young stars, with evidence for some modification in the latter. Using a chemical model developed for sooting flames, we have investigated the chemical evolution of PAHs in warm (1000–2000 K) and oxygen-rich (C/O < 1) conditions appropriate for the region where habitable planets may eventually form. Our study focuses on (1) delineating the conditions under which PAHs will react and (2) identifying the key reaction pathways and reaction products characterizing this chemical evolution. We find that reactions with H, OH and O are the main pathways for destroying PAHs over disk timescale at temperatures greater than about 1000 K. In the process, high abundances of C₂H₂ persist over long timescales due to the kinetic inhibition of reactions that eventually drive the carbon into CO, CO₂ and CH₄. The thermal destruction of PAHs may thus be the cause of the abundant C₂H₂ that has been observed in disks. We propose that protoplanetary disks have a ‘soot line’, within which PAHs are irreversibly destroyed via thermally-driven reactions. The soot line will play an important role, analogous to that of the ‘snow line’, in the bulk carbon content of meteorites and habitable planets.     

Assessing the feasibility of involving gaseous products resulting from physicochemical oxidation of human liquid and solid wastes in the cycling of a bio-technical life support system

The study addresses the possible ways of involving gaseous products produced by “wet” incineration of human wastes mixed with H₂O₂ in an alternating electric field in the cycling of the physical model of a bio-technical life support system (BTLSS). The resulting gas mixture contains CO₂ and O₂, which are easily involved in the cycling in the closed ecosystem, and NH₃, which is unacceptable in the atmosphere of the BTLSS. NH₃ fixation has been proposed, which is followed by nitrification and involvement of the resulting products in the mass exchange of the closed system. Experiments have been performed to show that plants can be grown in the atmosphere resulting from the closing of the gas loop that includes a physicochemical installation and a growth chamber with plants representing the phototrophic compartment of the BTLSS. The results of the study suggest the conclusion that the proposed method of organic waste oxidation can be a useful tool in creating a physical model of a closed-loop integrated BTLSS.     

A comparative and numerical study of effects of gravity waves in small miss-distance and miss-time GPS radio occultation temperature profiles

The Global Positioning System (GPS) Radio Occultation (RO) technique has global coverage and is capable of generating high vertical resolution temperature profiles of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere with sub-Kelvin accuracy and long-term stability, regardless of weather conditions. In this work, we take advantage of the anomalously high density of occultation events at the eastern side of the highest Andes Mountains during the initial mission months of COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate). This region is well-known for its high wave activity. We choose to study two pairs of GPS RO, both containing two occultations that occurred close in time and space. One pair shows significant differences between both temperature profiles. Numerical simulations with a mesoscale model were performed, in order to understand this discrepancy. It is attributed to the presence of a horizontal inhomogeneous structure caused by gravity waves.     

On The 53Mn Heterogeneity In The Early Solar System

It is well established that the prolonged and thorough mixing of numerous nucleosynthetic components that constitutes the matter in the solar nebula resulted in an essential isotopic homogeneity of the solar system material. This may or may not be true for the short-lived radionuclides which were injected into or formed within the solar nebula just prior to or during solar system formation. Distinguishing between their heterogeneous or homogeneous distribution is important because the short- lived radionuclides are now widely used for the relative chronology of various objects and processes in the early solar system and as constraints for models of nucleosynthesis. The recent studies of the ⁵³Mn-⁵³Cr isotope system (half life of ⁵³Mn is 3.7 Ma) in various solar system objects have shown that the relative abundance of radiogenic ⁵³Cr is consistent with essentially homogeneous distribution of ⁵³Mn in the asteroid belt. Thus, the relative ⁵³Mn-⁵³Cr chronometer can be directly used for dating samples which originated in the asteroid belt. Importantly, however, all meteorite groups studied so far indicate a clear excess of ⁵³Cr as compared to Earth and to a lunar sample, which exhibits also a terrestrial ⁵³Cr/⁵²Cr ratio. The results from the Martian (SNC) meteorites show that their ⁵³Cr excesses are less than half of those found in the asteroid belt bodies. Thus, the characteristic ⁵³Cr/⁵²Cr ratio of Mars is intermediate between that of the Earth-Moon system and those of the other meteorites. If these ⁵³Cr variations are viewed as a function of the heliocentric distance, the radial dependence of the relative abundances of radiogenic ⁵³Cr is indicated. This observed gradient can be explained by either an early, volatility controlled, Mn/Cr fractionation within the nebula or by an initial radial heterogeneous distribution of ⁵³Mn. Although model calculations of the Mn/Cr ratios in the bulk terrestrial planets seem to be inconsistent with the volatility driven scenario, the precision of these calculations is inadequate for eliminating this possibility. In contrast, recent studies of the ⁵³Mn-⁵³Cr system in the enstatite chondrites indicate that, while their bulk Mn/Cr ratios are essentially the same as in ordinary chondrites, the ⁵³Cr excess in bulk enstatite chondrites is three times lower than that in the bulk ordinary chondrites. This difference cannot be explained by a Mn/Cr fractionation and, thus, strongly suggests that a radial heterogeneous distribution of ⁵³Mn must have existed in at least the early inner solar system. Using the observed gradient and the ⁵³Cr/⁵²Cr ratio of the bulk enstatite chondrites, their parent body(ies) formed at ∼1.4 AU or somewhat closer to the Sun. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Recursivity in Lingua Cosmica

In a sequence of papers on the topic of message construction for interstellar communication by means of a cosmic language, the present author has discussed various significant requirements such a lingua should satisfy. The author’s Lingua Cosmica is a (meta) system for annotating contents of possibly large-scale messages for ETI. LINCOS, based on formal constructive logic, was primarily designed for dealing with logic contents of messages but is also applicable for denoting structural properties of more general abstractions embedded in such messages. The present paper explains ways and means for achieving this for a special case: recursive entities. As usual two stages are involved: first the domain of discourse is enriched with suitable representations of the entities concerned, after which properties over them can be dealt with within the system itself. As a representative example the case of Russian dolls (Matrjoshka’s) is discussed in some detail and relations with linguistic structures in natural languages are briefly exploited.     

Broadband light source for fiber-optic measurement system in spaceborne applications

Measuring temperatures, mechanical loads and derived quantities precisely and reliably play an important role in spaceflight. With spacecraft becoming increasingly complex, upscaling of present telemetry techniques can become cumbersome. Additionally, there are entirely new sensory requirements, resulting from emerging technologies such as smart structures, active vibration damping and composite material health monitoring. It has been demonstrated in preceding studies that these measurements can be advantageously and efficiently carried out by means of fiber-optic systems. The most prominent fiber-optic strain and temperature sensor is the fiber Bragg grating. Typically, multiple fiber Bragg gratings are used to translate entire temperature and strain fields into an optical wavelength information. For the interrogation of these sensors, a broadband or scanning light source is required. Additional requirements with respect to the light source are high intensity and unpolarized illumination of the gratings. These constraints can be met by a light source that is based on amplified spontaneous emission in a rare-earth-doped fiber. In the presented work, a compact light source, adapted for measurement applications and targeted towards space applications, has been developed. The design of this light source is presented, as well as its implementation. The light source has been designed and tested for selected core aspects of space robustness and the results of these tests are summarized.