This doctoral dissertation has mainly concentrated on modeling studies of shorter period acoustic-gravity waves propagating in the upper atmosphere. Several cases have been investigated in the literature, which are focusing on the propagation characteristics of high-frequency gravity wave packets. The dissertation consists of five main divisions of which each has its own significance to be addressed, and these five chapters are also bridged in order with each other to present a theme about gravity wave ducting dynamics, energetics, and airglows. The first chapter is served as an introduction of the general topic about atmospheric acoustic-gravity waves. Some of the historical backgrounds are provided as an interesting refreshment and also as a motivation reasoning this scientific research for decades. A new 2-D, time-dependent, and nonlinear model is introduced in the second chapter (the AGE-TIP model, acronymically named atmospheric gravity waves for the Earth plus tides and planetary waves). The model is developed during this entire doctoral study and has carried out almost all research results in this dissertation. The third chapter is a model application for shorter period gravity waves ducted in a thermally stratified atmosphere. In spite of mean winds the thermal ducting occurs because ducted waves are fairly common occurrences in airglow observations. One-dimensional Fourier analysis is applied to identify the ducted wave modes that reside within multiple thermal ducts. Besides, the vertical energy flux and the wave kinetic energy density are derived as wave diagnostic variables to better understand the time-resolved vertical transport of wave energy in the presence of multiple thermal ductings. The fourth chapter is also a model application for shorter period gravity waves, but it instead addresses the propagation of high-frequency gravity waves in the presence of mean background wind shears. The wind structure acts as a significant directional filter to the wave spectra and hence causes noticeable azimuthal variations at higher altitudes. In addition to the spectral analysis applied previously the wave action has been used to interpret the energy coupling between the waves and the mean flow among some atmospheric regions, where the waves are suspected to extract energy from the mean flow at some altitudes and release it to other altitudes. The fifth chapter is a concrete and substantial step connecting theoretical studies and realistic observations through nonlinearly coupling wave dynamic model with airglow chemical reactions. Simulated O (1S) (557.7 nm) airglow images are provided so that they can be compared with observational airglow images. These simulated airglow brightness variations response accordingly with minor species density fluctuations, which are due to propagating and ducting nonlinear gravity waves within related airglow layers. The thermal and wind structures plus the seasonal and geographical variabilities could significantly influence the observed airglow images. By control modeling studies the simulations can be used to collate with concurrent observed data, so that the incoherencies among them could be very useful to discover unknown physical processes behind the observed wave scenes.

The marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) is the region of atmosphere that interacts with the ocean surface. The atmospheric variability (i.e. temperature and relative humidity) in this region can result in rapid changes in the refractive index with increasing height from the sea surface. The complex region can result in non-standard propagation of electromagnetic (EM) waves beyond the horizon under atmospheric ducting conditions. However, when ducting layers are not present, EM waves are limited to line-of-sight transmission. Atmospheric ducting research is typically conducted using radio frequencies in the X-band (around 8-12 GHz) due to its impact on performance of marine radars at those frequencies. Studies typically examine levels of received signal power or effects on radar returns in ducting conditions, but often ignore the time-domain effects of ducting which can also affect communications link performance. In collaboration with the Coastal Observing Research and Development Center at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), the ducting research in this thesis uses a channel sounder that consists of a X-band transmitter which transmits a coded pseudorandom sequence and a software-defined radio (SDR) receiver. Both transmitter and receiver are GPS synchronized so that the time-domain cross-correlation between the TX and RX signals can be found. In theory, if atmospheric ducting is present, there will be multipath propagation, and the TX-RX cross-correlation indicates multiple “peaks”, indicating multiple arrival times. Conversely, if little to no ducting is present, then the cross-correlation indicates a single “peak”. The channel sounding was evaluated over several over-water communications links, involving fixed-path and variable range sea tests with a moving vessel to verify if this hypothesis is true. The expected ducting conditions were determined by in-situ refractive index measurements of the atmosphere. Results from testing showed multiple peaks when strong ducting was expected, but an extensive sea test in strong ducting conditions is needed to distinguish multipath from ducting from that of terrain reflections. Further work is also needed to determine the computational model that accurately models multipath propagation through a duct, which is beyond the scope of this thesis.

The problem of rough surface scattering and propagation over rough terrain in ducting environments has been receiving considerable attention in the literature. One popular method of modeling this problem is the parabolic wave equation (PWE) method. In this method, the Helmholtz wave equation is replaced by a PWE under the assumption of predominant forward propagation and scattering. The resulting PWE subjected to the appropriate boundary condition(s) is then solved, given an initial field distribution, using marching techniques such as the split-step Fourier algorithm. As is obvious from the assumption on which it is based, the accuracy of the PWE approximation deteriorates in situations involving appreciable scattering away from the near-forward direction, i.e. when the terrain under consideration is considerably rough. The backscattered field is neglected in all PWE-based models. An alternative and more rigorous method for modeling the problem under consideration is the boundary integral equation (BIE) method, which is formulated in two steps. The first step involves setting up an integral equation (the magnetic field integral equation, MFIE, or the electric field integral equation EFIE) governing currents induced on the rough surface by the incident field and solving for these currents numerically. The resulting currents are then used in the appropriate radiation integrals to calculate the field scattered by the surface everywhere in space. The BIE method accounts for all orders of multiple scattering on the rough surface and predicts the scattered field in all directions in space (including the backscattering direction) in an exact manner. In homogeneous media, the implementation of the BIE approach is straightforward since the kernel (Green's function or its normal derivative) which appears in the integral equation and the radiation integrals is well known. This is not the case, however, in inhomogeneous media (ducting environments) where the Green's function is not readily known. Due to this fact, there has been no attempt, up to our knowledge, at using the BIE (except under the parabolic approximation) to model the problem under consideration prior to the work presented in this thesis. In this thesis, a closed-form approximation of the Green's function for a two-dimensional ducting environment formed by the presence of a linear-square refractivity profile is derived using the asymptotic methods of stationary phase and steepest descents. This Green's function is then modified to more closely model the one associated with a physical ducting medium, in which the refractivity profile decreases up to a certain height, beyond which it becomes constant. This modified Green's function is then used in the BIE approach to study low grazing angle (LGA) propagation over rough surfaces in the aforementioned ducting environment. The numerical method used to solve the MFIE governing the surface currents is MOMI, which is a very robust and efficient method that does not require matrix storage or inversion. The proposed method is meant as a benchmark for people studying forward propagation over rough surfaces using the parabolic wave equation (PWE). Rough surface scattering results obtained via the PWE/split-step approach are compared to those obtained via the BIE/MOMI approach in ducting environments. These comparisons clearly show the shortcomings of the PWE/split-step approach. / Ph. D.

This thesis uses a method called "parabolic equation approach." This method can treat both the variations of the terrain and the refractive index simultaneously. This method makes it possible to predict the radio propagation more precisely. We can discuss the effects of the variations of the refractive index to radio signal and demo effects by using parabolic equation method. The Effective Earth Radius Factor is 4/3 suggested by CCIR so-called "Standard Atmosphere Model". But we try to find more suitable K in the Southern Taiwan area. We adopt Parabolic Equation Propagation Model to simulate real situation of radio propagation in the Southern Taiwan area and the prediction is compared with the measurement obtained previously. We can get the best K in the Southern Taiwan area is 1.8 and 1.9. The best K is greater than the value of 4/3 suggested by CCIR. Recently the government on Taiwan release more radio broadcasting licenses to the general public. As the number of radio stations increases, the interference between stations becomes more likely. There have been reports about the poor quality of broadcasting from stations. In this paper, we will study the interference using FM radio stations as an example. Given the characteristics of the transmitting antenna including location, frequency, pattern, height and power, the field strength can be computed with the equivalent earth radius factor K as a parameter. The difference in interference level is obtained under the standard atmosphere (K=4/3) and a case of K=1.55 which has been reported to be more suitable in Taiwan. Finally an extreme case that a ducting exists will be studied. Our results can be used to find more suitable separation distances free from interferences between co-channel and adjacent channel stations. By including a realistic tropospheric term, the more accurate field strength predictions can give the Spectrum Authority a better spectrum assignment tool. This has the potential to increase the number of available stations that can be made available or to reduce the interference stations may experience.

The propagation of electromagnetic (EM) waves of frequencies above 100MHz is affected by the existence and properties of the atmospheric duct, i.e. a horizontal layer in the lower atmosphere in which radio signals propagate more efficiently. Atmospheric ducts can be found in many parts of the world ocean including the Arabian Gulf. Ambient winds blowing from different directions bring air masses of different properties into the area and hence have a significant impact on the formation and strength of the atmospheric duct. However, little information is available on the long-term and intra-annual variability of wind and its effect on the ducting phenomenon in the Arabian Gulf region. This study addresses this gap by characterising the local meteorology, with a special emphasis on its effect on electromagnetic wave propagation. This study uses a new methodology to measure the persistence of Shamal wind, by considering the number of days associated with the specific wind pattern in addition to commonly used parameters such as the wind speed. In this study, thirty years (1981-2010) of observations and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data have been analyzed to identify a long-term trend and the intra-annual variability of various wind systems. Results clearly indicate that the Shamal (the northwesterly wind) is the most frequent meteorological feature over the region; therefore it has been investigated in greater detail. The Suhaili (southerly wind) is the second important wind which can occur any time of the year but it is less frequent than the Shamal. The Al-Nashi (cold and dry northeasterly wind) wind occurs only in December, January and February. The analysis shows that the wind strength and the frequency of Shamal days over the region have decreased over the last thirty years. Variations in the occurrence of summer and winter Shamal days were studied in relation to global atmospheric phenomena, and relationships have been established, synoptically and statistically between the frequency of Shamal days and large-scale atmospheric fluctuations. These links include atmospheric fluctuations over the Caspian Sea (a correlation coefficient of 0.66) and Siberia (0.69) in summer and Greenland (0.51) and Western Europe (0.65) in winter. The frequency of winter Shamal days during December, January and February are shown to be statistically related (a correlation coefficient of 0.41) to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and (0.49) the Arctic Oscillation (AO), as they influence the pathway of the westerly depression over the north Atlantic Ocean during the winter season. It is also shown that the decline in the number of Shamal days is linked to a decrease in the number of westerly depressions. The EM wave propagation has been examined using the Advanced Refraction Effects Prediction System (AREPS) model for different representative air masses. The radiosonde data from Abu Dhabi airport used in AREPS provided evidence of the general influence of each air mass. It was found that atmospheric ducting conditions and characteristics (height, thickness, and type) were variable in the lower part of the atmosphere (surface to 6000m) as a result of changing air masses. The influence of the Shamal conditions develop an elevated duct at approximately 850mb level. The Suhaili increases the thickness of the evaporation duct. In regards to the surface based and elevated duct, Suhaili and Al-Nashi provide standard atmospheric conditions. Land and sea breezes were mostly associated with the surface based duct and sometimes elevated the duct. Atmospheric ducting could extend the range of electromagnetic wave propagation above the usual range. Good knowledge of atmospheric duct characteristics enables the efficient assessment of the range of EM propagation, which is important for a number of practical applications, for example air traffic control and rescue operations. This could include the selection of the appropriate frequency and altitude of the electromagnetic wave device (e.g. radar and/or communication systems) operating with a frequency above 100MHz to be trapped in the duct to cover long distances.

The Advisory Council of Aeronautical Research in Europe (ACARE) has set record emission reduction targets for 2020, in response to increased awareness of global warming issues and the forecast high level of growth in global air traffic. In order to meet this legislation engine designers have to consider new and unconventional designs. An intercooled aero-engine with a heat exchanger (HX) positioned between the IP and HP compressors has the potential to reduce emissions and/or reduce specific fuel consumption relative to conventional engine cycles. In such an engine a coolant delivery system is required to bleed a proportion of the bypass flow, from behind the fan outlet guide vane (FOGV), rapidly diffuse the flow (to reduce pressure loss through the HX modules) and present it to the intercooler (i.e. heat exchanger) modules for cooling. This spent cooling air is then fed back into the bypass duct. To realise the benefits of the intercooled cycle the coolant delivery system must diffuse the flow, within the geometrical constraints, with minimal pressure loss and present it to the heat exchanger modules with suitable flow characteristics over a range of operating conditions. Therefore, a predominately experimental study, complemented with CFD predictions, was undertaken to investigate the design and performance of a coolant delivery system aimed at providing high pressure recovery in a relatively short length. For this to be achieved some pre-diffusion of the flow is required upstream of the offtake (i.e. by making the offtake larger than the captured streamtube), with a controlled diffuser or hybrid diffuser arrangement located downstream of the offtake. Although targeted at an intercooled aero-engine the concept of a system that produces a high pressure recovery in a limited length is applicable to a variety of applications. Experimental data were obtained on a modified existing low speed isothermal annular test facility operating at nominally atmospheric conditions. The offtake must operate aft of the FOGV in a highly complex flow field environment. Hence, a 1½ stage axial flow compressor (IGV, rotor and modified OGV) was used to simulate the unsteady blade wakes, secondary flows, loss cores and other turbo-machinery features that can significantly influence offtake performance. Preliminary numerical (CFD) studies enabled an offtake configuration to be determined and provided understanding of the governing fluid mechanic processes. A relatively small scale, low speed test facility was designed that had the capability to evaluate aerodynamic processes in isolation (i.e. pre-diffusion, controlled diffusion, hybrid diffusion) and full system modelling to enable the complex interaction between these flow processes to be assessed. Hence an optimal system could be characterised in terms of total pressure loss, static pressure recovery and flow profiles at HX inlet. Measurements and numerical predictions are initially presented for a baseline configuration with no offtake present. This enabled the OGV near field region to be characterised and provided a datum, relative to which the effects of introducing an offtake could be assessed. The results showed that in the near field region (i.e. within one chord downstream of the FOGV) the high velocity gradients in the circumferential direction, and associated turbulent shear stresses, dominate the profile mixing and loss production. There is little mixing out of profiles in the radial direction. Furthermore, the relatively large amount of kinetic energy associated with the compressor efflux and its subsequent mixing to a more uniform profile (i.e. reduced blockage) results in a significant static pressure recovery (Cp=5.5%). With the offtake present a variety of configurations were investigated including different levels of pre-diffusion, prior to the offtake, and different offtake positions. This enabled evaluation of the upstream pressure effects and interaction with the upstream FOGV. For very compact systems of short length, such that the gap between the OGV and offtake is relatively small, the amount of pre-diffusion achievable is limited by the offtake pressure field and its impact on the upstream OGV row. This pressure field is also influenced by parameters such as the non-dimensional offtake height and splitter thickness. For systems of increased length a significant amount of flow pre-diffusion can be achieved with little performance penalty (relative to the datum configuration). Hence, the loss associated with mixing blade wakes and secondary flows in an adverse pressure gradient is relatively small. However, the pre-diffusion level is eventually limited, to approximately 1.5, by the increased distortion and pressure losses associated with the captured streamtube. Further measurements were made with various controlled diffuser and hybrid diffusers (of varying area ratio) downstream of the offtake and various levels of pre-diffusion. The flow profile that is presented to the controlled diffuser is directly influenced by the upstream pre-diffusion process. Hence, in this case the upstream-downstream interaction is relatively strong. Conversely, the downstream-upstream interaction, between the controlled diffuser and pre-diffusion process, is relatively weak and thus has little effect on the upstream flow field. The data enabled an optimal system to be characterised (pre-diffusion/controlled diffusion split) in terms of total pressure loss, static pressure recovery and flow profiles at HX inlet. A total system diffusion of 1.8 was achievable with a pre-diffusion of 1.4 and controlled diffusion of 1.25, with further increases in either the pre-diffusion level or the controlled diffuser area ratio destabilising the system. This was achieved with an absolute mass weighted total pressure loss of 11% measured from FOGV inlet to the controlled diffuser exit plane. Utilising a hybrid bled diffuser, combined with the pre-diffusion, enabled a total system diffusion of 2.24 to be achieved. The system incorporated a 6% bleed from the hybrid diffuser and a system total pressure loss of 13%. Experimental and computational results obtained in the current research have provided an understanding of the governing flow mechanisms and quantified the geometric and aerodynamic interaction of the offtake with the FOGV and between the diffusion processes. This has enabled a design methodology to be outlined that provides approximate information on system geometry and performance (in terms of optimal diffusion split and total pressure loss) for future coolant delivery systems with minimal effort. Preliminary design maps have been developed to define the magnitude of the interaction between the offtake and FOGV in terms of the offtake height, pre-diffusion level, the splitter thickness and the axial distance between the fan OGV and offtake. In this way systems of optimal diffusion split, minimum pressure loss and minimal axial length can be determined.

abstract: A domain decomposition method for analyzing very large FDTD domains, hundreds of thousands of wavelengths long, is demonstrated by application to the problem of radar scattering in the maritime environment. Success depends on the elimination of artificial scattering from the “sky” boundary and is ensured by an ultra-high-performance absorbing termination which eliminates this reflection at angles of incidence as shallow as 0.03 degrees off grazing. The two-dimensional (2D) problem is used to detail the features of the method. The results are cross-validated by comparison to a parabolic equation (PE) method and surface integral equation method on a 1.7km sea surface problem, and to a PE method on propagation through an inhomogeneous atmosphere in a 4km-long space, both at X-band. Additional comparisons are made against boundary integral equation and PE methods from the literature in a 3.6km space containing an inhomogeneous atmosphere above a flat sea at S-band. The applicability of the method to the three-dimensional (3D) problem is shown via comparison of a 2D solution to the 3D solution of a corridor of sea. As a technical proof of the scalability of the problem with computational power, a 5m-wide, 2m-tall, 1050m-long 3D corridor containing 321.8 billion FDTD cells has been simulated at X-band. A plane wave spectrum analysis of the (X-band) scattered fields produced by a 5m-wide, 225m-long realistic 3D sea surface, and the 2D analog surface obtained by extruding a 2D sea along the width of the corridor, reveals the existence of out-of-plane 3D phenomena missed by the traditional 2D analysis. The realistic sea introduces random strong flashes and nulls in addition to a significant amount of cross-polarized field. Spatial integration using a dispersion-corrected Green function is used to reconstruct the scattered fields outside of the computational FDTD space which would impinge on a 3D target at the end of the corridor. The proposed final approach is a hybrid method where 2D FDTD carries the signal for the first tens of kilometers and the last kilometer is analyzed in 3D. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2018

Prevailing propagation phenomena in certain areas play a vital role in deciding terrestrial wireless systems performance. Vertical refractivity profile below 1 km is a critical parameter for designing reliable systems; noting that there is a shortage of upper-air data worldwide. Anomalous phenomena may cause severe signal fading and interference beyond the horizon. The objectives of this thesis are to investigate dominant refractive conditions in the subtropical Arabian Gulf region, develop new approaches and empirical models for evaluating vertical refractivity profiles and relevant propagation parameters in the low troposphere, and to examine the impact of frequently experienced anomalous phenomena on terrestrial microwave links. Twenty-three years of meteorological measurements, from 1990 to 2013, are utilized using spatially separated surface stations and a single radiosonde in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Profiles of sea level, surface and upper refractivity components are statistically analysed. Three major atmospheric layers; namely 65 m, 100 m and 1 km above the ground are studied to analyse relevant propagation parameters such as sub-refraction, super-refraction, anomalous propagation probability parameter β0 and point refractivity gradient not exceeded for 1% of time. The effective earth radius factor k is investigated using a new weighted averaged approach. In addition, the seasonal structure of atmospheric ducting is dimensioned within 350 m layer above ground. Finally, microwave measurement campaign is conducted using multiple radio links operating in UAE using various frequency bands. The link budget simulations are compared with the signal strength measurements. Fading scenarios are studied against the observed anomalous conditions and several recommendations are concluded.

Prevailing propagation phenomena in certain areas play a vital role in deciding terrestrial wireless systems performance. Vertical refractivity profile below 1 km is a critical parameter for designing reliable systems; noting that there is a shortage of upper-air data worldwide. Anomalous phenomena may cause severe signal fading and interference beyond the horizon. The objectives of this thesis are to investigate dominant refractive conditions in the subtropical Arabian Gulf region, develop new approaches and empirical models for evaluating vertical refractivity profiles and relevant propagation parameters in the low troposphere, and to examine the impact of frequently experienced anomalous phenomena on terrestrial microwave links. Twenty-three years of meteorological measurements, from 1990 to 2013, are utilized using spatially separated surface stations and a single radiosonde in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Profiles of sea level, surface and upper refractivity components are statistically analysed. Three major atmospheric layers; namely 65 m, 100 m and 1 km above the ground are studied to analyse relevant propagation parameters such as sub-refraction, super-refraction, anomalous propagation probability parameter β0 and point refractivity gradient not exceeded for 1% of time. The effective earth radius factor k is investigated using a new weighted averaged approach. In addition, the seasonal structure of atmospheric ducting is dimensioned within 350 m layer above ground. Finally, microwave measurement campaign is conducted using multiple radio links operating in UAE using various frequency bands. The link budget simulations are compared with the signal strength measurements. Fading scenarios are studied against the observed anomalous conditions and several recommendations are concluded.

This thesis is developed as a proposal for heating for a primary school and kindergarten in the region of Brno-countryside. For the insulated building, a combination of heating and air-conditioning is proposed. The concept is designed so that the air-conditioning preheats the exterior air and the heating system warms the incoming air to a comfortable temperature. For the required thermal performance, sources of heat (for gas and pellets) and a layout solution for the boiler room is designed. Drainage of combustion products is proposed for both solutions. The project solution is per the extent of the construction permit. The theoretical part is linked with the practical part through the condensation boilers, their function and division, and drainage of combustion products. The experiment for the given topic was conducted on the drainage of combustion products. The pressure loss of the reverse knob was determined in relation to the flow rate of air in the condensation boilers as this loss is essential in assessing the drainage of combustion products.