Study of seasonal variation of winds in upper stratosphere over Hyderabad

A predictability of the stratospheric zonal winds above 38 km during the turnaround is an essential parameter for planning of the high-altitude scientific balloon flights. This information is more relevant in the case of Hyderabad balloon facility which is closer to equator and has much more unstable wind reversal patterns which appears to have changed enormously during the last decade probably in correlation with the global warming. With a majority of our flights reaching the altitudes of 38–42 km and the requirement of long float durations, a prior knowledge of wind pattern during the summer and winter turnaround seasons is highly desirable. Furthermore, the flight operation corridor for balloon flights from Hyderabad is limited to 400 km and though in the west direction there are flat lands, in all other three directions, the landscape is dotted by water bodies, reserve forests and hilly terrain, and therefore need of such a data is essential. In order to establish the climatology of the stratospheric winds and study their inter-annual variability over Hyderabad for the turnaround periods, we have made a detailed analysis of the United Kingdom Meteorological office data between 2000 and 2007, to derive average wind parameters (magnitude, direction) at different ceiling altitudes above 38 km. These results can be used only as general trend of stratospheric wind and should not be the limitation of the UKMO Data.     

太阳电池对平流层飞艇热特性的影响分析

研究太阳电池对平流层飞艇驻空阶段热特性的影响。建立了太阳电池热模型、平流层飞艇热分析模型,包括热平衡方程、太阳直射辐射、天空散射辐射、地面反射辐射、大气长波辐射、地球长波辐射、蒙皮长波辐射、对流换热等;采用多节点模型,对平流层飞艇在驻空期间太阳电池、蒙皮与艇内氦气温度变化过程进行了数值模拟,得到了温度昼夜变化规律;分析了太阳电池（含隔热结构）的等效面积热阻、转换效率、铺装面积对平流层飞艇热特性的影响,得到了其温度昼夜变化规律。本文为平流层飞艇热性能分析和热控系统设计提供依据。     

Light weight optimization of stratospheric airship envelope based on reliability analysis

A stratospheric airship is an essential flight vehicle in the aviation field. In this paper, optimal design approach of stratospheric airships is developed to optimize envelope shape considering three failure modes and multidisciplinary analysis models, and could also reduce the mass of a stratospheric airship to be deployed at a specific location. Based on a theoretical analysis, three failure modes of airships including bending wrinkling failure, hoop tearing failure and bending kink failure, are given to describe and illustrate the failure mechanism of stratospheric airships. The results show that the location, length and size of the local uniform load and the large fineness ratio are easier to lead to bending wrinkling failure and bending kink failure. The small fineness ratio and the increasing differential pressure are more prone to cause hoop tearing failure for an airship hull. The failure probability is sensitive to the wind field. From an optimization design, the reliability analysis is essential to be carried out based on the safety of the airship. The solution in this study can provide economical design recommendations.     

Signatures of the Sudden Stratospheric Warming events of January–February 2008 in Seoul,S. Korea

The period January–February 2008 was characterized by four Sudden Stratospheric Warmings (SSWs) in the Northern Hemisphere, of which the last warming, at the end of February 2008, was a major warming. A significant decrease in mesospheric water vapour (H₂O) of more than 2 ppmv (∼40%) was observed by the ground-based microwave (GBMW) radiometer in Seoul, S. Korea [37.3°N, 126.3°E] during the major SSW. A comparison with ground-based mesospheric H₂O observations from the mid-latitude station in Bern [46.9°N, 7°E] revealed an anticorrelation in the mesospheric H₂O data during the major SSW. In addition, prior to the major warming, strong periodic fluctuations were recorded in the Aura MLS vertical temperature distribution between 15 and 0.05 hPa at Seoul. The mesospheric temperature oscillation was found to have a period of ∼10–14 days with a persistency of 3–4 cycles.     

Response of the extratropical middle atmosphere to the September 2002 major stratospheric sudden warming

The effects of a major stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) at extratropical latitudes have been investigated with wind and temperature observations over a Brazilian station, Cachoeira Paulista (22.7°S, 45°W) during September–October 2002. In response to the warming at polar latitudes a corresponding cooling at tropical and extratropical latitudes is prominent in the stratosphere. A conspicuous signature of latitudinal propagation of a planetary wave of zonal wavenumbers 1 and 2 from polar to low latitude has been observed during the warming period. The polar vortex which split into two parts of different size is found to travel considerably low latitude. Significant air mass mixing between low and high latitudes is caused by planetary wave breaking. The meridional wind exhibits oscillations of period 2–4 days during the warming period in the stratosphere. No wave feature is evident in the mesosphere during the warming period, although a 12–14 day periodicity is observed after 2 weeks of the warming event, indicating close resemblance to the results of other simultaneous investigations carried out from high latitude Antarctic stations. Convective activity over the present extratropical station diminishes remarkably during the warming period. This behavior is possibly due to destabilization and shift of equatorial convective active regions towards the opposite hemisphere in response to changes in the mean meridional circulation in concert with the SSW.     

基于遗传算法的平流层飞艇航迹规划方法研究

文章针对平流层飞艇驻空阶段航迹规划问题进行研究和仿真分析.考虑平流层飞艇自身飞行的特点,建立其运动学方程和风场模型,并在适当假设基础上,构造能够反映其飞行能耗的代价函数.最后采用遗传算法进行算例计算,求解平流层飞艇最优轨迹.仿真结果表明,遗传算法能够有效、快速地收敛并稳定至问题的最优解;其所构造的代价函数能够反映飞艇自...     

系留气球空中系留系统研究

介绍系留气球空中系留系统的组成,主要包括系留缆绳、旋转铰链、系留拉索和系留抓手等。对空中系留系统进行受力分析,详细阐述各部分的设计特点及设计准则,对系留气球空中系留系统研制具有一定的参考价值。     

Stratosphere-mesosphere coupling during stratospheric sudden warming events

In this review article we summarize recent results in the coupling of the stratosphere–mesosphere during stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) events. We focus on the role of planetary and gravity waves in driving the middle atmosphere circulation and illustrate the stratosphere–mesosphere coupling during undisturbed wintertime circulation, during an SSW event, and after an SSW event during the formation of an elevated stratopause using simulations of past Arctic and Antarctic winters from the Specified Dynamics version of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (SD-WACCM). We illustrate the transition of the polar stratopause from being a gravity wave driven phenomena to a planetary wave driven phenomena during SSW events and its subsequent reestablishment and control by gravity waves. We also examine the synoptic structure of the stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere using SD-WACCM data fields that show the structure of the vortex during specific dynamical events in both hemispheres. We illustrate the longitudinal asymmetry in the thermal structure in the stratosphere and mesosphere driven by differences in circulation over the polar cap regions during an SSW event. We complement this analysis of the middle atmosphere circulation with a classification of both the Arctic and Antarctic winters since 1979 into major, minor, elevated stratopause or quiet winters based on the level of disturbance using the Modern Era-Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalysis data. From the MERRA data we find that the combined occurrences of both major and minor warmings in the Arctic have remained constant over the past three decades while we find a minor increase in their occurrences in the Antarctic.     

Temperature variability in the tropical mesosphere during the northern hemisphere winter

Temperature observations at 20–90 km height and 5°N–15°N during the period of December 1992–March 1993 from the WINDII and MLS experiments on the UARS satellite are analysed together with MF radar winds and UKMO assimilated fields of temperature and zonal and meridional winds. The correlation between the different datasets at the tropics and zonal mean wind data at mid latitudes is examined for period February–March 1993, when series of stratospheric warming events were observed at middle and high latitudes. Wavelet analysis is applied to investigate coupling between stationary and travelling planetary waves in the stratosphere and the upper mesosphere. Planetary waves m = 1 with periods of 4–7 days, 8–12 days and 13–18 days are found to dominate the period. Westward 7- and 16–18 day waves at the tropics appear enhanced by stationary planetary waves during sudden stratospheric warming events.     

Properties of tandem balloons connected by extendable suspension wires

The tandem balloon system has been known as a candidate system for long duration flight balloons. In this paper, the properties of the system are analytically studied in a new way by introducing an extendable suspension wire in the Sky Anchor configuration, which consists of a zero-pressure main balloon suspending a payload and a super-pressure balloon suspended below the payload. It was found that extension of the suspension wire between the payload and the super-pressure balloon can extend the capability of the tandem system; the altitude of the zero-pressure balloon can be changed without any consumables except some energy, and the day–night oscillation of the balloon altitude can be suppressed. This property is useful as the vehicle for long duration flights. It is also pointed out that the method to control the altitude of a balloon using an additional suspended super-pressure balloon can also be applied for super-pressure balloons.