Ultraviolet spectroscopy and remote sensing of the upper atmosphere

The Earth's ultraviolet airglow contains fundamental diagnostic information about the state of its upper atmosphere and ionosphere. Our understanding of the excitation and emission processes which are responsible for the airglow has undergone dramatic evolution from the earliest days of space research through the past several years during which a wealth of new information has been published from high-resolution spectroscopy and imaging experiments. This review of the field begins with an overview of the phenomenology: how the Earth looks in the ultraviolet. Next the basic processes leading to excitation of atomic and molecular energy states are discussed. These concepts are developed from first principles and applied to selected examples of day and night airglow; a detailed review of radiation transport theory is included. This is followed by a comprehensive examination of the current status of knowledge of individual emission features seen in the airglow, in which atomic physics issues as well as relevant atmospheric observations of major and minor neutral and ionic constituents are addressed. The use of airglow features as remote sensing observables is then examined for the purpose of selecting those species most useful as diagnostics of the state of the thermosphere and ionosphere. Imaging of the plasmasphere and magnetosphere is also briefly considered. A summary of upcoming UV remote sensing missions is provided.     

Structure,luminosity, and dynamics of the Venus thermosphere

We review here observations and models related to the chemical and thermal structures, airglow and auroral emissions and dynamics of the Venus thermosphere, and compare empirical models of the neutral densities based in large part on in situ measurements obtained by the Pioneer Venus spacecraft. Observations of the intensities of emissions are important as a diagnostic tool for understanding the chemical and physical processes taking place in the Venus thermosphere. Measurements, ground-based and from rockets, satellites, and spacecraft, and model predictions of atomic, molecular and ionic emissions, are presented and the most important sources are elucidated. Coronas of hot hydrogen and hot oxygen have been observed to surround the terrestrial planets. We discuss the observations of and production mechanisms for the extended exospheres and models for the escape of lighter species from the atmosphere. Over the last decade and a half, models have attempted to explain the unexpectedly cold temperatures in the Venus thermosphere; recently considerable progress has been made, although some controversies remain. We review the history of these models and discuss the heating and cooling mechanisms that are presently considered to be the most important in determining the thermal structure. Finally, we discuss major aspects of the circulation and dynamics of the thermosphere: the sub-solar to anti-solar circulation, superrotation, and turbulent processes.     

Galileo Ultraviolet Spectrometer experiment

The Galileo ultraviolet spectrometer experiment uses data obtained by the Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) mounted on the pointed orbiter scan platform and from the Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EUVS) mounted on the spinning part of the orbiter with the field of view perpendicular to the spin axis. The UVS is a Ebert-Fastie design that covers the range 113–432 nm with a wavelength resolution of 0.7 nm below 190 and 1.3 nm at longer wavelengths. The UVS spatial resolution is 0.4 deg × 0.1 deg for illuminated disc observations and 1 deg × 0.1 deg for limb geometries. The EUVS is a Voyager design objective grating spectrometer, modified to cover the wavelength range from 54 to 128 nm with wavelength resolution 3.5 nm for extended sources and 1.5 nm for point sources and spatial resolution of 0.87 deg × 0.17 deg. The EUVS instrument will follow up on the many Voyager UVS discoveries, particularly the sulfur and oxygen ion emissions in the Io torus and molecular and atomic hydrogen auroral and airglow emissions from Jupiter. The UVS will obtain spectra of emission, absorption, and scattering features in the unexplored, by spacecraft, 170–432 nm wavelength region. The UVS and EUVS instruments will provide a powerful instrument complement to investigate volatile escape and surface composition of the Galilean satellites, the Io plasma torus, micro- and macro-properties of the Jupiter clouds, and the composition structure and evolution of the Jupiter upper atmosphere.     

Night airglow phenomenology

The phenomenology of the night airglow is reviewed with particular emphasis on the work of recent years. The major topics discussed are the spectrum; latitudinal dependency; diurnal variation; correlations in time and space; the effects of magnetic activity and of the sunspot cycle and solar activity; and conjugacy and the airglow. A number of other topics are also discussed briefly.     

Effects of Low Energetic Neutral Atoms on Martian and Venusian Dayside Exospheric Temperature Estimations

The heating of the upper atmospheres and the formation of the ionospheres on Venus and Mars are mainly controlled by the solar X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation (λ = 0.1–102.7 nm and can be characterized by the 10.7 cm solar radio flux). Previous estimations of the average Martian dayside exospheric temperature inferred from topside plasma scale heights, UV airglow and Lyman-α dayglow observations of up to ∼500 K imply a stronger dependence on solar activity than that found on Venus by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) and Magellan spacecraft. However, this dependence appears to be inconsistent with exospheric temperatures (<250 K) inferred from aerobraking maneuvers of recent spacecraft like Mars Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey during different solar activity periods and at different orbital locations of the planet. In a similar way, early Lyman-α dayglow and UV airglow observations by Venera 4, Mariner 5 and 10, and Venera 9–12 at Venus also suggested much higher exospheric temperatures of up to 1000 K as compared with the average dayside exospheric temperature of about 270 K inferred from neutral gas mass spectrometry data obtained by PVO. In order to compare Venus and Mars, we estimated the dayside exobase temperature of Venus by using electron density profiles obtained from the PVO radio science experiment during the solar cycle and found the Venusian temperature to vary between 250–300 K, being in reasonable agreement with the exospheric temperatures inferred from Magellan aerobraking data and PVO mass spectrometer measurements. The same method has been applied to Mars by studying the solar cycle variation of the ionospheric peak plasma density observed by Mars Global Surveyor during both solar minimum and maximum conditions, yielding a temperature range between 190–220 K. This result clearly indicates that the average Martian dayside temperature at the exobase does not exceed a value of about 240 K during high solar activity conditions and that the response of the upper atmosphere temperature on Mars to solar activity near the ionization maximum is essentially the same as on Venus. The reason for this discrepancy between exospheric temperature determinations from topside plasma scale heights and electron distributions near the ionospheric maximum seems to lie in the fact that thermal and photochemical equilibrium applies only at altitudes below 170 km, whereas topside scale heights are derived for much higher altitudes where they are modified by transport processes and where local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) conditions are violated. Moreover, from simulating the energy density distribution of photochemically produced moderately energetic H, C and O atoms, as well as CO molecules, we argue that exospheric temperatures inferred from Lyman-α dayglow and UV airglow observations result in too high values, because these particles, as well as energetic neutral atoms, transformed from solar wind protons into hydrogen atoms via charge exchange, may contribute to the observed planetary hot neutral gas coronae. Because the low exospheric temperatures inferred from neutral gas mass spectrometer and aerobraking data, as well as from CO⁺ ₂ UV doublet emissions near 180–260 nm obtained from the Mars Express SPICAM UV spectrograph suggest rather low heating efficiencies, some hitherto unidentified additional IR-cooling mechanism in the thermospheres of both Venus and Mars is likely to exist. An erratum to this article can be found at     

One-dimensional numerical investigation on multi-cylinder gasoline engine fueled by micro-emulsions,CNG, and hydrogen in dual fuel mode

This research work is the novel state-of-the-art technology performed on multi-cylinder SI engine fueled compressed natural gas, emulsified fuel, and hydrogen as dual fuel. This work predicts the overall features of performance, combustion, and exhaust emissions of individual fuels based on AVL Boost simulation technology. Three types of alternative fuels have been compared and analyzed. The results show that hydrogen produces 20% more brake power than CNG and 25% more power than micro-emulsion fuel at 1500 r/min, which further increases the brake power of hydrogen, CNG, and micro-emulsions in the range of 25%, 20%, and 15% at higher engine speeds of 2500–4000 r/min, respectively. In addition, the brake-specific fuel consumption is the lowest for 100% hydrogen, followed by CNG 100% and then micro-emulsions at 1500 r/min. At 2500–5000 r/min, there is a significant drop in brake-specific fuel consumption due to a lean mixture at higher engine speeds. The CO, HC, and NO_x emissions significantly improve for hydrogen, CNG, and micro-emulsion fuel. Hydrogen fuel shows zero CO and HC emissions and is the main objective of this research to produce 0% carbon-based emissions with a slight increase in NO_x emissions, and CNG shows 30% lower CO emissions than micro-emulsions and 21.5% less hydrocarbon emissions than micro-emulsion fuel at stoichiometric air/fuel ratio.     

Prediction of emissions in turbojet engines exhausts: relationship between nitrogen oxides emission index (EINOx) and the operational parameters

The prediction of nitrogen oxides emissions in turbojet engines exhausts remains a field of immense importance given the increasing coercive environmental requirements in relation to the emissions from turbojet engines. Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) are subjected to limits fixed by legislators in a lot of countries because of their toxic character beyond specific concentrations in the air and their effects on climate change. However, analytical methods used to evaluate the quantities of the emissions are not efficiently established because of a lack of complete understanding of the phenomena governing the formation of the NOx in turbojet engines. It is a combination of chemical, thermal, and fluid dynamic processes. In this paper, a more accurate empirical correlation is determined for the prediction of nitrogen oxides emission index (EI_NOx) in turbojet engines exhausts using the main combustion operational parameters. The relationship between EI_NOx and the following parameters: fuel flow rate, output power, pressure ratio, efficiency, flame temperature and combustor inlet temperature is analysed with 227 ICAO certification data measured on turbojets engines from manufacturers such as Pratt and Whitney, General Electric, CFM International and Rolls-Royce. A set of 556 test point data used to show flame and combustor inlet temperature relationship with NOx emission index is from the work of G.F. Pearce et al. on twelve gas turbine engines. From this analysis it can be noticed that the relationship between EI_NOx and flame temperature is strong but not as the relationship between EI_NOx and the combustor inlet temperature. Since the combustor inlet temperature is easier to measure, EI_NOx value can be deduce from it. By predicting NOx emissions from combustor inlet temperature we can avoid exhausts gas measurements and analysis, saving on time and money.     

Initial results from the ISEE-1 and -2 plasma wave investigation

In this paper we present an initial survey of results from the plasma wave experiments on the ISEE-1 and -2 spacecraft which are in nearly identical orbits passing through the Earth's magnetosphere at radial distances out to about 22.5R _e . Essentially every crossing of the Earth's bow shock can be associated with an intense burst of electrostatic and whistler-mode turbulence at the shock, with substantial wave intensities in both the upstream and downstream regions. Usually the electric and magnetic field spectrum at the shock are quite similar for both spacecraft, although small differences in the detailed structure are sometimes apparent upstream and downstream of the shock, probably due to changes in the motion of the shock or propagation effects. Upstream of the shock emissions are often observed at both the fundamental, f _- ^p , and second harmonic, 2f _p ^- , of the electron plasma frequency. In the magnetosphere high resolution spectrograms of the electric field show an extremely complex distribution of plasma and radio emissions, with numerous resonance and cutoff effects. Electron density profiles can be obtained from emissions near the local electron plasma frequency. Comparisons of high resolution spectrograms of whistler-mode emissions such as chorus detected by the two spacecraft usually show a good overall similarity but marked differences in detailed structure on time scales less than one minute. Other types of locally generated waves, such as the (n+1/2)f _- ^g electron cyclotron waves, show a better correspondence between the two spacecraft. High resolution spectrograms of kilometric radio emissions are also presented which show an extremely complex frequency-time structure with many closely spaced narrow-band emissions.     

NOx emissions of turbofan powered unmanned aerial vehicle for complete flight cycle

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been getting more and more popular in both civil and military arena. Similar to manned aircraft, their propulsion systems or engines emit harmful gases such as nitrogen oxides. Since UAVs have different mission profiles and operational parameters than manned aircraft, it is worthy to investigate their NO_x emissions. Therefore, in this study, NO_x emissions of a turbofan powered UAV for complete flight cycle was calculated and optimized within a range of altitude and speed parameters. NO_x emissions were calculated based on ICAO ground test data and corrected to any speed and altitude during flight legs using both Boeing Fuel Flow Method 2 and DLR Fuel Flow Method. Total NO_x emissions were calculated for complete flight cycles for different altitude and speed parameters. Numerical results were presented graphically and additionally optimization studies were conducted. Optimization studies include determination and comparison of speed and altitude for minimum NO_x emissions by the two fuel flow methods and maximum loiter time achievable by UAV.     

Experimental and numerical studies of a lean-burn internally-staged combustor

A lean-burn internally-staged combustor for low emissions that can be used in civil avi-ation gas turbines is introduced in this paper. The main stage is designed and optimized in terms of fuel evaporation ratio, fuel/air pre-mixture uniformity, and particle residence time using commer-cial computational fluid dynamics （CFD） software. A single-module rectangular combustor is adopted in performance tests including lean ignition, lean blowout, combustion efficiency, emis-sions, and combustion oscillation using aviation kerosene. Furthermore, nitrogen oxides （NOx） emission is also predicted using CFD simulation to compare with test results. Under normal inlet temperature, this combustor can be ignited easily with normal and negative inlet pressures. The lean blowout fuel/air ratio （LBO FAR） at the idle condition is 0.0049. The fuel split proportions between the pilot and main stages are determined through balancing emissions, combustion efficiency, and combustion oscillation. Within the landing and take-off （LTO） cycle, this combustor enables 42%NOx reduction of the standard set by the 6th Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection （CAEP/6） with high combustion efficiency. The maximum board-band pressure oscillations of inlet air and fuel are below 1%of total pressure during steady-state operations at the LTO cycle specific conditions.     

Multi-objective optimization of aircraft design for emission and cost reductions

Pollutant gases emitted from the civil jet are doing more and more harm to the environ- ment with the rapid development of the global commercial aviation transport. Low environmental impact has become a new requirement for aircraft design. In this paper, estimation method for emis- sion in aircraft conceptual design stage is improved based on the International Civil Aviation Orga- nization （ICAO） aircraft engine emissions databank and the polynomial curve fitting methods. The greenhouse gas emission （CO2 equivalent） per seat per kilometer is proposed to measure the emis- sions. An approximate sensitive analysis and a multi-objective optimization of aircraft design for tradeoff between greenhouse effect and direct operating cost （DOC） are performed with five geom- etry variables of wing configuration and two flight operational parameters. The results indicate that reducing the cruise altitude and Mach number may result in a decrease of the greenhouse effect but an increase of DOC. And the two flight operational parameters have more effects on the emissions than the wing configuration. The Pareto-optimal front shows that a decrease of 29.8% in DOC is attained at the expense of an increase of 10.8% in greenhouse gases.     

直混燃烧与LPP组合燃烧室数值研究

设计了直混燃烧与贫油预混预蒸发(LPP)组合的单管燃烧室.燃烧室头部采用同轴同旋向主模旋流器和副模旋流器结构,主、副油路分别采用直射式喷嘴和压力雾化喷嘴,可以在单管燃烧室上掌握和实现低污染燃烧排放控制技术,并采用Fluent软件对设计的单管燃烧室模型进行数值模拟.计算结果表明:主副模燃烧区相互独立;副模是直混燃烧,主要作用稳定火焰.主模是预混燃烧,燃烧区温度分布均匀,从而实现低NO_x排放.解决了大工况下低NO_x排放与慢车贫油熄火之间的矛盾.      

New cycle and emission studies — the CYPRESS project

The overall objective of the EC project CYPRESS is to make informed predictions of the probable changes in aero gas turbine design in the near term (7–10 years) and the longer term (17–20 years) and to predict the pollutant emissions from these engines. Engine classes representative of the range of products of all European manufacturers will be included. CYPRESS will particularly investigate the effects of engine design and cycle on the relationships between CO₂ and NO_X. Because of the prospect that emissions should be regulated at all altitudes, CYPRESS will focus on predictions of cycle efficiencies and emissions throughout the full flight cycle.     

Experimental study on NOx emission correlation of fuel staged combustion in a LPP combustor at high pressure based on NO-chemiluminescence

Experimental investigations on NO_x emissions of a single-cup, Lean Premixed Prevaporized (LPP), module combustor were carried out at elevated inlet temperature and pressure up to 810 K and 2.0 MPa, close to the real operating conditions of aero-engine combustors. This LPP combustor adopts centrally staged fuel injections which could produce separated stratified swirling spray flame. In the NO_x emissions measurements, the ranges of dome equivalence ratio and fuel stage ratio were from 0.55 to 0.58 and 8% to 24%, respectively. The optical diagnosis on separated stratified swirling spray flame were carried out with fuel stage ratio changing from 15% to 30%. Therefore, NO* and OH* chemiluminescence images were obtained. The results show that NO_x emissions increase with the increase of the fuel stage ratio. And from the chemiluminescence images, the main flame and pilot flame are found weakly coupled. The pilot flame plays a significant role in NO_x emission production because of its higher adiabatic flame temperature. Based on the results of chemiluminescence optical tests, a new NO_x emission prediction model is proposed based on the Lefebvre’s single flame model. The estimate of local equivalence ratio of the pilot stage’s non-premixed flame is modified considering the characteristics of spray combustion, and a “PLUS” emission prediction model suitable for separated stratified swirling spray flame is obtained. Compared to the experimental data, the “PLUS” model exhibits a good prediction in a range of ±13% of deviation.     

民用飞机全航线排放预测

针对民用飞机全航线的排放预测问题,运用飞机升阻特性模型、发动机性能模型和飞机航线性能模型计算了民用飞机在全航线上的飞机升阻特性与发动机性能,并将以上模型与基于T₃-p₃法与波音流量法所建立的排放计算模型相耦合,详细计算了飞机在实际飞行过程中未燃碳氢化合物(UHC)、一氧化碳(CO)、氮氧化合物(NOx)的排放指数,并得到了全航线的各种污染排放物排放总量,完善了民用航空发动机排放预测分析体系,为低污染民用航空发动机的设计与评估提供理论依据.计算结果表明,飞机处在起飞以及爬升阶段时,NOx的排放指数较高,而UHC与CO的排放指数较低;当飞机处在下降以及进场时,NOx的排放指数较低,而UHC与CO的排放指数较高.NOx的总排放量在3种污染排放产物中最高.      

Assessing the environmental impacts of aircraft noise and emissions

With the projected growth in demand for commercial aviation, many anticipate increased environmental impacts associated with noise, air quality, and climate change. Therefore, decision-makers and stakeholders are seeking policies, technologies, and operational procedures that balance environmental and economic interests. The main objective of this paper is to address shortcomings in current decision-making practices for aviation environmental policies. We review knowledge of the noise, air quality, and climate impacts of aviation, and demonstrate how including environmental impact assessment and quantifying uncertainties can enable a more comprehensive evaluation of aviation environmental policies. A comparison is presented between the cost-effectiveness analysis currently used for aviation environmental policy decision-making and an illustrative cost-benefit analysis. We focus on assessing a subset of the engine NO_X emissions certification stringency options considered at the eighth meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection. The FAA Aviation environmental Portfolio Management Tool (APMT) is employed to conduct the policy assessments. We show that different conclusions may be drawn about the same policy options depending on whether benefits and interdependencies are estimated in terms of health and welfare impacts versus changes in NO_X emissions inventories as is the typical practice. We also show that these conclusions are sensitive to a variety of modeling uncertainties. While our more comprehensive analysis makes the best policy option less clear, it represents a more accurate characterization of the scientific and economic uncertainties underlying impacts and the policy choices.     

On choice of a swirler for the impulse combustion chamber

In this paper, some problems on implementation of an air-fuel mixture combustion process in the flame tube with a GTE impulse combustion chamber flow swirler are considered. When the peripheral swirler is placed in the flame tube head of this chamber, a number of 3-D reverse flow zones are formed to effectively mix up the air-fuel mixture providing its steady-state combustion. As a result, the thrust impulse is increased and a level of atmospheric emissions of NO_x, CO, and some other detrimental compounds is significantly decreased.     

航空发动机燃烧室燃烧过程与排放物生成的反应动力学数值模拟

选用正癸烷作为航空煤油的替代燃料,建立了正癸烷的化学反应详细机理与简化机理(包括50种组分,118个基元反应).分别采用详细机理与简化机理对正癸烷在激波管中的着火延迟时间、在预混燃烧炉内的燃烧过程进行了数值计算,并与实验结果进行了对比分析.同时,耦合该简化机理与CFD计算软件Fluent,对某型航空发动机环管形燃烧室中单个火焰筒内流动特性与燃烧过程、排放物及活性中间组分生成的反应动力学特性进行了详细分析,并与采用C₁₂H₂₃为燃料的单步反应机理的计算结果进行了对比分析.结果表明:采用简化机理计算得到的着火延迟时间、反应物与各主要生成物摩尔分数的整体变化趋势与实验数据吻合较好;与采用C₁₂H₂₃为燃料的单步反应机理相比,采用正癸烷为替代燃料的简化反应机理计算得到的温度场分布更符合实际,其出口平均温度亦更为接近燃烧室出口设计温度;同时,能更为详细了解燃料低温裂解过程及裂解产物、中间产物及主要排放物的生成规律.      

Possible Experiments for Manned Orbiting Laboratory

Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) will provide the opportunity for space experiments and an assessment of man's ability to perform at zero gravity. The experiments discussed (nine in all) are designed to provide astrophysical and terrestrial information on ultraviolet, airglow, upper atmosphere chemistry, solar corona investigations, observation of objects at or near the sun's limb, cosmic ray investigations, planetary astronomy, and ionospheric investigations including plasmas.