scholarly journals Statistical properties of Joule heating rate, electric field and conductances at high latitudes

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 2661-2673 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Aikio ◽  
A. Selkälä

Abstract. Statistical properties of Joule heating rate, electric field and conductances in the high latitude ionosphere are studied by a unique one-month measurement made by the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar in Tromsø (66.6 cgmlat) from 6 March to 6 April 2006. The data are from the same season (close to vernal equinox) and from similar sunspot conditions (about 1.5 years before the sunspot minimum) providing an excellent set of data to study the MLT and Kp dependence of parameters with high temporal and spatial resolution. All the parameters show a clear MLT variation, which is different for low and high Kp conditions. Our results indicate that the response of morning sector conductances and conductance ratios to increased magnetic activity is stronger than that of the evening sector. The co-location of Pedersen conductance maximum and electric field maximum in the morning sector produces the largest Joule heating rates 03–05 MLT for Kp≥3. In the evening sector, a smaller maximum occurs at 18 MLT. Minimum Joule heating rates in the nightside are statistically observed at 23 MLT, which is the location of the electric Harang discontinuity. An important outcome of the paper are the fitted functions for the Joule heating rate as a function of electric field magnitude, separately for four MLT sectors and two activity levels (Kp<3 and Kp≥3). In addition to the squared electric field, the fit includes a linear term to study the possible anticorrelation or correlation between electric field and conductance. In the midday sector, positive correlation is found as well as in the morning sector for the high activity case. In the midnight and evening sectors, anticorrelation between electric field and conductance is obtained, i.e. high electric fields are associated with low conductances. This is expected to occur in the return current regions adjacent to auroral arcs as a result of ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling, as discussed by Aikio et al. (2004) In addition, a part of the anticorrelation may come from polarization effects inside high-conductance regions, e.g. auroral arcs. These observations confirm the speculated effect of small scale electrodynamics, which is not included in most of the global modeling efforts of Joule heating rate.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Pielsticker ◽  
Benjamin Gövert ◽  
Kentaro Umeki ◽  
Reinhold Kneer

Biomass is a complex material mainly composed of the three lignocellulosic components: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The different molecular structures of the individual components result in various decomposition mechanisms during the pyrolysis process. To understand the underlying reactions in more detail, the individual components can be extracted from the biomass and can then be investigated separately. In this work, the pyrolysis kinetics of extracted and purified cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin are examined experimentally in a small-scale fluidized bed reactor (FBR) under N2 pyrolysis conditions. The FBR provides high particle heating rates (approx. 104 K/s) at medium temperatures (573–973 K) with unlimited reaction time and thus complements typically used thermogravimetric analyzers (TGA, low heating rate) and drop tube reactors (high temperature and heating rate). Based on the time-dependent gas concentrations of 22 species, the release rates of these species as well as the overall rate of volatiles released are calculated. A single first-order (SFOR) reaction model and a 2-step model combined with Arrhenius kinetics are calibrated for all three components individually. Considering FBR and additional TGA experiments, different reaction regimes with different activation energies could be identified. By using dimensionless pyrolysis numbers, limits due to reaction kinetics and heat transfer could be determined. The evaluation of the overall model performance revealed model predictions within the ±2σ standard deviation band for cellulose and hemicellulose. For lignin, only the 2-step model gave satisfying results. Modifications to the SFOR model (yield restriction to primary pyrolysis peak or the assumption of distributed reactivity) were found to be promising approaches for the description of flash pyrolysis behavior, which will be further investigated in the future.


2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 719-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Danielides ◽  
A. Kozlovsky

Abstract. On 11 February 1997 at 08:36 UT after a substorm onset the Auroral Turbulence 2 sounding rocket was launched from Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska into a moderately active auroral region. This experiment has allowed us to investigate evening (21:00 MLT) auroral forms at the substorm recovery, which were discrete multiple auroral arcs stretched to, the east and southeast from the breakup region, and bright auroral patches propagating westward along the arcs like a luminosity wave, which is a typical feature of the disturbed arc. The rocket crossed an auroral arc of about 40 km width, stretched along southeast direction. Auroral patches and associated electric fields formed a 200 km long periodical structure, which propagated along the arc westward at a velocity of 3 km/s, whereas the ionospheric plasma velocity inside the arc was 300 m/s westward. The spatial periodicity in the rocket data was found from optical ground-based observations, from electric field in situ measurements, as well as from ground-based magnetic observations. The bright patches were co-located with equatorward plasma flow across the arc of the order of 200 m/s in magnitude, whereas the plasma flow tended to be poleward at the intervals between the patches, where the electric field reached the magnitude of up to 20 mV/m, and these maxima were co-located with the peaks in electron precipitations indicated by the electron counter on board the rocket. Pulsations of a 70-s period were observed on the ground in the eastern component of the magnetic field and this is consistent with the moving auroral patches and the north-south plasma flows associated with them. The enhanced patch-associated electric field and fast westward propagation suggest essential differences between evening auroral patches and those occurring in the morning ionosphere. We propose the wave that propagates along the plasma sheet boundary to be a promising mechanism for the evening auroral patches.Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; electric fields and currents)


1995 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 704-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Marklund ◽  
L. Blomberg ◽  
C.-G. Fälthammar ◽  
P.-A. Lindqvist ◽  
L. Eliasson

Abstract. High-resolution measurements by the double probe electric field instrument on the Freja satellite are presented. The observations show that extremely intense (up to 1 V m–1) and fine-structured (<1 km) electric fields exist at auroral latitudes within the altitude regime explored by Freja (up to 1700 km). The intense field events typically occur within the early morning sector of the auroral oval (01–07 MLT) during times of geomagnetic activity. In contrast to the observations within the auroral acceleration region characterized by intense converging electric fields associated with electron precipitation, upward ion beams and upward field-aligned currents, the intense electric fields observed by Freja are often found to be diverging and located within regions of downward field-aligned currents outside the electron aurora. Moreover, the intense fields are observed in conjunction with precipitating and transversely energized ions of energies 0.5–1 keV and may play an important role in the ion heating. The observations suggest that the intense electric field events are associated with small-scale low-conductivity ionospheric regions void of auroral emissions such as east-west aligned dark filaments or vortex streets of black auroral curls located between or adjacent to auroral arcs within the morningside diffuse auroral region. We suggest that these intense fields also exist at ionospheric altitudes although no such observations have yet been made. This is possible since the height-integrated conductivity associated with the dark filaments may be as low as 0.1 S or less. In addition, Freja electric field data collected outside the auroral region are discussed with particular emphasis on subauroral electric fields which are observed within the 19–01 MLT sector between the equatorward edge of the auroral oval and the inner edge of the ring current.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 12299-12341 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Persing ◽  
M. T. Montgomery ◽  
J. C. McWilliams ◽  
R. K. Smith

Abstract. We present the results of idealized numerical experiments to examine the difference between tropical cyclone evolution in three-dimensional (3-D) and axisymmetric (AX) model configurations. We focus on the prototype problem for intensification, which considers the evolution of an initially unsaturated AX vortex in gradient-wind balance on an f plane. Consistent with findings of previous work, the mature intensity in the 3-D model is reduced relative to that in the AX model. In contrast with previous interpretations invoking barotropic instability and related horizontal mixing processes as a mechanism detrimental to the spin-up process, the results indicate that 3-D eddy processes associated with vortical plume structures can assist the intensification process by contributing to a radial contraction of the maximum tangential velocity and to a vertical extension of tangential winds through the depth of the troposphere. These plumes contribute significantly also to the azimuthally averaged heating rate and the corresponding azimuthal-mean overturning circulation. The comparisons show that the resolved 3-D eddy momentum fluxes above the boundary layer exhibit counter-gradient characteristics during a key spin-up period, and more generally are not solely diffusive. The effects of these eddies are thus not properly represented by the subgrid-scale parameterizations in the AX configuration. The resolved eddy fluxes act to support the contraction and intensification of the maximum tangential winds. The comparisons indicate fundamental differences between convective organization in the 3-D and AX configurations for meteorologically relevant forecast timescales. While the radial and vertical gradients of the system-scale angular rotation provide a hostile environment for deep convection in the 3-D model, with a corresponding tendency to strain the convective elements in the tangential direction, deep convection in the AX model does not suffer this tendency. Also, since during the 3-D intensification process the convection has not yet organized into annular rings, the azimuthally averaged heating rate and radial gradient thereof is considerably less than that in the AX model. This lack of organization results broadly in a slower intensification rate in the 3-D model and leads ultimately to a weaker mature vortex after 12 days of model integration. While azimuthal mean heating rates in the 3-D model are weaker than those in the AX model, local heating rates in the 3-D model exceed those in the AX model and at times the vortex in the 3-D model intensifies more rapidly than AX. Analyses of the 3-D model output do not support a recent hypothesis concerning the key role of small-scale vertical mixing processes in the upper-tropospheric outflow in controlling the intensification process. In the 3-D model, surface drag plays a particularly important role in the intensification process for the prototype intensification problem on meteorologically relevant timescales by helping foster the organization of convection in azimuth. There is a radical difference in the behaviour of the 3-D and AX simulations when the surface drag is reduced or increased from realistic values. Borrowing from ideas developed in a recent paper, we give a partial explanation for this difference in behaviour. Our results provide new qualitative and quantitative insight into the differences between the asymmetric and symmetric dynamics of tropical cyclones and would appear to have important consequences for the formulation of a fluid dynamical theory of tropical cyclone intensification and mature intensity. In particular, the results point to some fundamental limitations of strict axisymmetric theory and modelling for representing the azimuthally averaged behaviour of tropical cyclones in three dimensions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 13323-13438 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Persing ◽  
M. T. Montgomery ◽  
J. C. McWilliams ◽  
R. K. Smith

Abstract. We present the results of idealized numerical experiments to examine the difference between tropical cyclone evolution in three-dimensional (3-D) and axisymmetric (AX) model configurations. We focus on the prototype problem for intensification, which considers the evolution of an initially unsaturated AX vortex in gradient-wind balance on an f-plane. Consistent with findings of previous work, the mature intensity in the 3-D model is reduced relative to that in the AX model. In contrast with previous interpretations invoking barotropic instability and related horizontal mixing processes as a mechanism detrimental to the spin-up process, the results indicate that 3-D eddy processes associated with vortical plume structures can assist the intensification process by contributing to a radial contraction of the maximum tangential velocity and to a vertical extension of tangential winds through the depth of the troposphere. These plumes contribute significantly also to the azimuthally-averaged heating rate and the corresponding azimuthal-mean overturning circulation. The comparisons show that the resolved 3-D eddy momentum fluxes above the boundary layer exhibit counter-gradient characteristics and are generally not represented properly by the subgrid-scale parameterizations in the AX configuration. The resolved eddy fluxes act to support the contraction and intensification of the maximum tangential winds. The comparisons indicate fundamental differences between convective organization in the 3-D and AX configurations for meteorologically relevant forecast time scales. While the radial and vertical gradients of the system-scale angular rotation provide a hostile environment for deep convection in the 3-D model, with a corresponding tendency to strain the convective elements in the tangential direction, deep convection in the AX model does not suffer this tendency. Also, since during the 3-D intensification process the convection has not yet organized into annular rings, the azimuthally-averaged heating rate and radial gradient thereof is considerably less than that in the AX model. This lack of organization results broadly in a slower intensification rate in the 3-D model and leads ultimately to a weaker mature vortex after 12 days of model integration. While axisymmetric heating rates in the 3-D model are weaker than those in the AX model, local heating rates in the 3-D model exceed those in the AX model and at times the vortex in the 3-D model intensifies more rapidly than AX. Analyses of the 3-D model output do not support a recent hypothesis concerning the key role of small-scale vertical mixing processes in the upper-tropospheric outflow in controlling the intensification process. In the 3-D model, surface drag plays a particularly important role in the intensification process for the prototype intensification problem on meteorologically relevant time scales by helping foster the organization of convection in azimuth. There is a radical difference in the behaviour of the 3-D and AX simulations when the surface drag is reduced or increased from realistic values. Borrowing from ideas developed in a recent paper, we give a partial explanation for this difference in behaviour. Our results provide new qualitative and quantitative insight into the differences between the asymmetric and symmetric dynamics of tropical cyclones and would appear to have important consequences for the formulation of a fluid dynamical theory of tropical cyclone intensification and mature intensity. In particular, the results point to some fundamental limitations of strict axisymmetric theory and modelling for representing the azimuthally-averaged behaviour of tropical cyclones in three dimensions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 5953-5959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine A. Goodrich ◽  
Robert E. Ergun ◽  
Frederick D. Wilder ◽  
James Burch ◽  
Roy Torbert ◽  
...  

1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2368-2375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Maleki ◽  
Lawrence R. Holland ◽  
Gwyn M. Jenkins ◽  
R. L. Zimmerman ◽  
Wally Porter

Polymeric carbon artifacts are particularly difficult to make in thick section. Heating rate, temperature, and sample thickness determine the outcome of carbonization of resin leading to a glassy polymeric carbon ware. Using wedge-shaped samples, we found the maximum thickness for various heating rates during gelling (300 K–360 K), curing (360 K–400 K), postcuring (400 K–500 K), and precarbonization (500 K–875 K). Excessive heating rate causes failure. In postcuring the critical heating rate varies inversely as the fifth power of thickness; in precarbonization this varies inversely as the third power of thickness. From thermogravimetric evidence we attribute such failure to low rates of diffusion of gaseous products of reactions occurring within the solid during pyrolysis. Mass spectrometry shows the main gaseous product is water vapor; some carboniferous gases are also evolved during precarbonization. We discuss a diffusion model applicable to any heat-treatment process in which volatile products are removed from solid bodies.


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