Course Projects

We develop a model to simulate hydrodynamic escape that solves simultaneously the non-dimensionalized conservation equations. The model assumes an isothermal atmosphere and uses heating as the delta function. Model results are used to calculate the hydrodynamic escape flux. We also compare the model derived flux of hydrogen with the amount of oxygen currently in the atmosphere.

An empirical orthogonal function analysis has been performed on monthly sea surface temperature anomalies for part of the Pacific Ocean between 17N and 50S during the period of January 1961-December 1990. The analysis reconstructs the sea surface temperature anomalies dataset and explores the structure of the variability within a dataset. The leading EOF mode shows an El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Sea Surface Temperature pattern. The empirical orthogonal function analysis of sea surface temperature also includes a regression of principal components against sea level pressure over the same time frame of January 1961-December 1990.

We investigate the propagation of an action potential along a single cardiac fiber, withits ends spliced together to form a ring. Building on the foundation of the Luo-Rudy I ionic model and the help of Matlab, the behavior of a recirculating wavefront is simulated and analyzed under several scenarios. Convergence of the solution and its physiological significance is then investigated.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM) simulated diurnal tides also observed in National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetic Dynamics (TIMED) satellite measurements of the middle and upper atmosphere at the equator. This study examined the temperature structure and day to day temperature perturbations between 40 and 120 kilometers over the equator during 2002 using the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broad-band Emissions Radiometry (SABER) instrument of the TIMED satellite and NCAR TIME-GCM. We also quantified the diurnal tide as it propagates upwards into the middle and upper atmosphere. The performance of the TIME-GCM was assessed by comparing its analysis to the SABER analysis. The SABER atmospheric tides are analyzed in terms of ascending and descending orbit nodes. The TIME-GCM atmospheric tides were sampled along the SABER instrument measurement track and analyzed in terms of ascending and descending orbit nodes. Contour plots of two times the equatorial mean temperature profile for the SABER temperature measurements and TIME-GCM temperature predictions were constructed. IDL programs also generated contour plots of the estimated diurnal tide amplitude for the SABER temperature measurements and TIME-GCM temperature predictions. During this study we assumed the difference between the ascending local solar time and descending local solar time is approximately 12 hours. This research also assumed that the ascending and descending temperature profiles consist of a diurnal mean and perturbation. We find from observing the contour plots day to day diurnal tidal variability, but no seasonal variability. We also discovered a vertical wavelength of 25 kilometers in the estimate of the diurnal tide amplitude contours.