Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Relative positioning”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 199 records · Page 11

Site A1 - Atmospheric Sensor / Reviewed Data

This dataset contains meteorological measurements including temperature, pressure, and relative humidity at multiple heights deployed on tethered balloon system at AWAKEN site A1. Z03 refers to the third height position of the iMet-XQ2 mounted on the tethered balloon.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Site A1 - Atmospheric Sensor / Reviewed Data

This dataset contains meteorological measurements including temperature, pressure, and relative humidity at multiple heights deployed on tethered balloon system at AWAKEN site A1. Z02 refers to the second height position of the iMet-XQ2 mounted on the tethered balloon.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Systems and related methods for collecting light transmitted through an architectural opening

In one aspect, a system for collecting light directed through an architectural opening includes a plurality of optical fibers positioned within the architectural opening. A portion of light from a light source is absorbed by the plurality of optical fibers. One or more optical fibers of the plurality of optical fibers are configured to transmit the absorbed light to one or more light collection elements.

Ward, Patrick A.↗

Systems and related methods for collecting light transmitted through an architectural opening

In one aspect, a system for collecting light directed through an architectural opening includes a plurality of optical fibers positioned within the architectural opening. A portion of light from a light source is absorbed by the plurality of optical fibers. One or more optical fibers of the plurality of optical fibers are configured to transmit the absorbed light to one or more light collection elements.

Ward, Patrick A.↗

Pore-Scale Study on the Positive Feedback Between Stress and Porosity Caused by Pressure Solution in Porous Media

Pressure solution is an important process in the evolution of sedimentary rocks, which provide storage space for most of our petroleum resources. It directly influences the generation, migration, and storage of petroleum fluids in subsurface sedimentary rocks. Here, in this paper, we develop a pore-scale, mechanochemical model to demonstrate a possible positive feedback between the local porosity and pore surface stress, in which a higher local porosity causes a higher local pore surface stress, thus enhancing pressure solution and consequently further increasing the local porosity. Pore surface stress represents stress on a solid grain adjacent to a pore. Specifically, the pore-scale, mechanochemical model directly simulates the stress distribution over solid and pore surfaces using a finite element model. The dissolution of solids at the solid-pore interfaces under a far-from-equilibrium condition is simulated using a first-order kinetics model that accounts for the local stress distribution. The updated pore geometry, caused by pore surface dissolution, is then used in the stress simulation in the next numerical iteration. Two types of porous media, the Oriskany sandstone and an artificial porous medium with spherical pores, were tested in the mechanochemical simulation. The positive stress-porosity feedback during pressure solution was observed in both samples. In addition, the model quantitatively illustrated the distribution of local mineral dissolution rates on all pore surfaces, as well as its relation to the effective mineral dissolution rate of the entire sample. Based on the comparison between the two porous media, the local mineral dissolution was regulated by pore space distribution, geometry, and coalescence during pressure solution. This work is the first that uses direct, pore-scale numerical simulation to demonstrate the positive stress-porosity feedback during pressure solution, which has the potential to advance the understanding of the mechanical-chemical (MC) coupling in many geological processes that are relevant to subsurface energy systems, such as the recovery of petroleum hydrocarbons and geothermal energy.

CT scanning↗

Large area position sensitive detector for thermal neutrons

Large area thermal neutron detectors are applied in many fields including industrial imaging, nuclear safeguarding, neutron scattering, and fundamental science. Historically, these detectors were based on 3 He gas proportional counters despite the limitations of 3 He detectors such as high cost, limited supply, non-uniform spatial resolution, and depth of absorption problems. Two alternatives to 3 He detectors are 6 Li-loaded glass scintillators, and powdered ZnS(Ag) scintillators mixed with 6LiF neutron converters. The 6 LiF/ZnS(Ag) scintillator has advantages over 6 Li glass as it is less expensive and can be produced in larger areas, although its self-absorption presents a problem. In this work, we developed a large area thermal neutron detector based on 6 LiF/ZnS(Ag) scintillator coupled with wavelength shifting fibers. The detector uses resistive charge divider-based position encoding. We further modified and improved the method by 2D segmentation of the detector using modular multichannel readout electronics. This segmentation approach allows for a combination of large detector area, improved spatial resolution, and increased count rate. Furthermore, spatial resolution can be variable across the detector area by adjusting the segment size.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

S -matrix positivity without Lorentz invariance: a case study

We investigate the analytic structure of scattering amplitudes in theories in which Lorentz invariance is spontaneously broken. We do so by computing and studying the S-matrix for a simple example: a superfluid described by a complex scalar with quartic interactions. The computation is confined to tree-level, for there are no absolutely stable single-particle states, though the lifetime can be made long by lowering the chemical potential. For the 2 → 2 amplitude in center-of-mass configurations, not only is crossing symmetry violated, there appears a tree level branch cut for unphysical kinematics. Its appearance is a consequence of non-analyticity in the dispersion relation. The branch point defines a new scale in the problem, which scales inversely with the chemical potential. In this example, even derivatives of the forward amplitude are positive while odd derivatives are negative. This pattern can be understood in a general way in the limit of a small chemical potential, or weak Lorentz breaking.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Radiation-front position control with scenario adjustments during the first tungsten divertor operation on KSTAR

This study reports the first experimental demonstration of a radiation front-based detachment control system during the initial tungsten divertor campaign in KSTAR. The system employs real-time infrared video bolometry with tomographic reconstruction to track the inboard radiation-front position, which served as a feedback variable for impurity seeding. In a baseline scenario without pre-D 2 fueling, tungsten accumulation triggered core radiation surges and repetitive H–L back transitions. In contrast, with pre-D 2 fueling, detachment was stabilized by maintaining higher edge-localized mode frequency, suppressing core tungsten buildup, and reducing sputtering, thereby enabling sustained feedback control. The suitability of the inboard front position as a detachment control metric was confirmed by its correlation with the degree of detachment: with D 2 fueling the relation exhibited a broad hysteresis loop characteristic of momentum-loss-dominated detachment, whereas with N 2 fueling, it became narrow and nearly vertical, consistent with radiation-loss-dominated pinning. These results provide a proof-of-principle for radiation-front-based detachment control, demonstrating its viability as a control approach. At the same time, these results clarify that the detachment outcomes were further conditioned by impurity transport characteristics of tungsten divertor operation in KSTAR, providing guidance for future scenario optimization and controller development in tungsten devices.

KSTAR↗

Multi-scale impacts of climate change on hydropower for long-term water-energy planning in the contiguous United States

Climate change impacts on watersheds can potentially exacerbate water scarcity issues where water serves multiple purposes including hydropower. The long-term management of water and energy resources is still mostly approached in a siloed manner at different basins or watersheds, failing to consider the potential impacts that may concurrently affect many regions at once. There is a need for a large-scale hydropower modeling framework that can examine climate impacts across adjoining river basins and balancing authorities (BAs) and provide a periodic assessment at regional to national scales. Expanding from our prior assessment only for the United States (US) federal hydropower plants, we enhance and extend two regional hydropower models to cover over 85% of the total hydropower nameplate capacity and present the first contiguous US-wide assessment of future hydropower production under Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6’s high-end Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 5-8.5 emission scenario using an uncertainty-aware multi-model ensemble approach. We present regional hydropower projections, using both BA regions and US Hydrologic Subregions (HUC4s), to consistently inform the energy and water communities for two future periods—the near-term (2020–2039) and the mid-term (2040–2059) relative to a historical baseline period (1980–2019). We find that the median projected changes in annual hydropower generation are typically positive—approximately 5% in the near-term, and 10% in the mid-term. However, since the risk of regional droughts is also projected to increase, future planning cannot overly rely on the ensemble median, as the potential of severe hydropower reductions could be overlooked. The assessment offers an ensemble of future hydropower generation projections, providing regional utilities and power system operators with consistent data to develop drought scenarios, design long duration storage and evaluate energy infrastructure reliability under intensified inter-annual and seasonal variability.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Examination of coal combustion management sites for microbiological and chemical signatures of groundwater impacts

Coal combustion accounts for 40% of the world’s electricity and generates more than a billion tons of coal combustion products (CCP) annually, half of which end up in landfills and impoundments. CCP contain mixtures of chemicals that can be mobile in the environment and impact the quality of surface water and potable groundwater. In this investigation, water samples from 14 coal combustion management sites across 4 physiographic regions in the United States, paired with background and down-gradient groundwater samples, were analyzed for water chemistry and microbiology. The objective was to determine if microbiology data alone, or supported by chemistry data, could reliably differentiate source waters and identify sites where CCP is known or expected to be influencing groundwater. Two percent of the total amplicons showed genus level conservation across CCP management sites, regions, and sample types; corresponding to ubiquitous, facultatively aerobic proteobacterial taxa that are generally recognized for the potential to respire using different terminal electron acceptors. Ordination plots did not reveal significant differences ( p > 0.05) in 16S rRNA gene amplicon diversity by CCP management site, water sample types, or physiographic regions. Contrastingly, chemistry distinguished sample types by standard water quality metrics (total dissolved solids, Ca:SO 4 ratio), alkali earth metals (K, Na, Li), selenium, boron, and fluoride. A focused evaluation of 16S rRNA gene amplicons for a subset of CCP management sites revealed microbiological features and chemical drivers (F, Ca, temperature) that positively identified the single CCP management site confirmed to have groundwater impacted by CCP leachate. At this site, 9 genera (>0.5% relative abundance) were exclusive to CCP porewater and downgradient groundwater. Inferred metabolisms for these taxa indicates potential for N and S biogeochemical transformations and 1-C metabolism that are consistent with a reducing environment, as evidenced by low ORP and depleted SO 4 2− . This research contributes to a growing understanding of conditions where these data types, analyses, and interpretation methods could be applied for distinguishing influence from CCP on the surrounding environment, as well as practical limitations.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Methane Quantification Performance of the Quantitative Optical Gas Imaging (QOGI) System Using Single-Blind Controlled Release Assessment

Quantitative optical gas imaging (QOGI) system can rapidly quantify leaks detected by optical gas imaging (OGI) cameras across the oil and gas supply chain. A comprehensive evaluation of the QOGI system’s quantification capability is needed for the successful adoption of the technology. This study conducted single-blind experiments to examine the quantification performance of the FLIR QL320 QOGI system under near-field conditions at a pseudo-realistic, outdoor, controlled testing facility that mimics upstream and midstream natural gas operations. The study completed 357 individual measurements across 26 controlled releases and 71 camera positions for release rates between 0.1 kg Ch 4 /h and 2.9 kg Ch 4 /h of compressed natural gas (which accounts for more than 90% of typical component-level leaks in several production facilities). The majority (75%) of measurements were within a quantification factor of 3 (quantification error of –67% to 200%) with individual errors between –90% and 831%, which reduced to –79% to +297% when the mean of estimates of the same controlled release from multiple camera positions was considered. Performance improved with increasing release rate, using clear sky as plume background, and at wind speeds ≤1 mph relative to other measurement conditions.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Luteibacter mycovicinus sp. nov., a yellow-pigmented gammaproteobacterium found as an endohyphal symbiont of endophytic Ascomycota

We isolated and described a yellow-pigmented strain of bacteria (strain 9143 T ), originally characterized as an endohyphal inhabitant of an endophytic fungus in the Ascomycota. Although the full-length sequence of its 16S rRNA gene displays 99 % similarity to Luteibacter pinisoli, genomic hybridization demonstrated <30 % genomic similarity between 9143 T and its closest named relatives, further supported by average nucleotide identity results. This and related endohyphal strains form a well-supported clade separate from L. pinisoli and other validly named species including the most closely related Luteibacter rhizovicinus. The name Luteibacter mycovicinus sp. nov. is proposed, with type strain 9143 T (isolate DBL433), for which a genome has been sequenced and is publicly available from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC TSD-257 T ) and from the Leibniz Institute DSMZ (DSM 112764 T ). The type strain reliably forms yellow colonies across diverse media and growth conditions (lysogeny broth agar, King’s Medium B, potato dextrose agar, trypticase soy agar and Reasoner's 2A (R2A) agar). It forms colonies readily at 27 °C on agar with a pH of 6–8, and on salt (NaCl) concentrations up to 2 %. It lacks the ability to utilize sulphate as a sulphur source and thus only forms colonies on minimal media if supplemented with alternative sulphur sources. It is catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Although it exhibits a single polar flagellum, motility was only clearly visible on R2A agar. Its host range and close relatives, which share the endohyphal lifestyle, are discussed.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Comprehensive Analysis of the Relative Dispersion of Droplet-Size Distributions and Their Relationships to Key Physical Fog Processes Under Different Aerosol Conditions and Evolutionary Stages

The relative dispersion of cloud and fog droplets has significant impacts on aerosol indirect effects, radiative transfer, and microphysical processes. However, previous studies have been mostly concerned with clouds, with limited studies on fog, particularly those that examine the combined influences of all key physical processes and their roles during fog evolution. As such, this study aims to conduct a comprehensive investigation by examining the relationships between relative dispersion and other microphysical variables, as well as the underlying microphysical and dynamic processes, based on field fog campaigns in polluted and clean conditions. In polluted fog, droplet concentrations are higher, leading to smaller droplets and increased dispersion. The correlation between dispersion and droplet volume-mean radius is positive in the polluted fog, but shifts to negative in clean fog. Here, we attribute the difference to various microphysical processes like aerosol activation, condensation, collision-coalescence, and entrainment-mixing. In polluted fog, high aerosol concentrations, low supersaturations, and strong turbulence (entrainment-mixing) provide suitable conditions for the simultaneous occurrence of droplet condensation and aerosol activation, resulting in a positive correlation between dispersion and volume-mean radius, especially during the fog formation stage. In contrast, during the mature stage in clean fog, condensation is dominant with weak aerosol activation leading to a negative correlation between relative dispersion and volume-mean radius. The collision-coalescence process is more active in the mature stage, increasing radii and leading to the negative correlation between dispersion and volume-mean radius. This result sheds new light on understanding the relative dispersion and mechanisms in fog under different aerosol backgrounds.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Soil Temperature Sensor Data, 2025, Five sites in Knoxville, Tennessee

This dataset contains surface soil temperature measurements from five urban parks in Knoxville, Tennessee: Cumberland Estates Park (CE), Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development (SD), West View Park (WV), Victor Ashe Park (VA), and West Hills Park (WH). The dataset includes 16 CSV files documenting soil temperature measurements recorded by HOBO Pendant MX Water Temperature Data Loggers. Data collection for all sites began on January 1, 2025. The end time for each sensor is provided in the End Time_2025.csv file. Each logger was installed at a depth of 10 inches and positioned approximately 3 to 6 feet from the weather station at each site. This dataset is part of a broader study examining the effects of soil moisture and plant evapotranspiration on ambient temperature and relative humidity across multiple urban parks in Knoxville.

Salvador, Christian [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000283287777↗

Spherical and sessile droplet dynamics by fluctuating hydrodynamics

We simulate the mesoscopic dynamics of droplets formed by phase-separated fluids at nanometer scales where thermal fluctuations are significant. Both spherical droplets fully immersed in a second fluid and sessile droplets which are also in contact with a solid surface are studied. Our model combines a Cahn–Hilliard formulation with incompressible fluctuating hydrodynamics; for sessile droplets, the fluid–solid contact angle is specified as a boundary condition. Deterministic simulations with an applied body force are used to measure the droplets' mobility from which a diffusion coefficient is obtained using the Einstein relation. Stochastic simulations are independently used to obtain a diffusion coefficient from a linear fit of the variance of a droplet's position with time. In some scenarios, these two measurements give the same value but not in the case of a spherical droplet initialized near a slip wall or in the case of sessile droplets with large contact angles (≥90°) on both slip and no-slip surfaces.

Bell, John B↗

Measurements of the polarization of several instabilities in the DIII-D tokamak

Recently, a method to infer the polarization of modes with frequencies much less than the ion cyclotron frequency was published [X.D. Du et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 132 (2024) 215101]. The method uses measurements of electron temperature and density fluctuations δTₑ and δnₑ at the same spatial position to infer the local ratio of “acoustic polarization,” |δϕ ∥ |/(|δϕ ∥ |+|δψ|), where δϕ ∥ is the effective parallel potential and δψ is related to the parallel magnetic vector potential A ∥ . This paper summarizes key formulas, with emphasis on their range of validity, and elaborates on the workflow required to infer the acoustic polarization from experimental data. The drift-acoustic polarization of ellipticity-induced, toroidicity-induced, and reversed shear Alfvén eigenmodes is nearly zero, as expected for modes with predominately shear-Alfvénic polarization. The polarization of beta-induced Alfvén eigenmodes contains an acoustic component that increases with poloidal wave number. “Low frequency modes,” (instabilities that appear transiently when the minimum of the safety factor qₘᵢₙ passes through rational values) have large and highly variable acoustic polarization. In both experiment and simulation, fishbones have non-zero acoustic polarization that increases as the mode chirps down in frequency.

Alfven eigenmode↗

Numerical assessment of the impact of the guiding-centre approximation on fast ion simulations in NSTX

Guiding-centre (GC) and full-orbit (FO) simulations of the beam-injected fast ion distribution and the corresponding neutron emissivity have been carried out for magnetohydrodynamics-quiescent National Spherical Torus eXperiment (NSTX) plasmas, using a combination of ASCOT5 and DRESS, to assess the suitability of the GC approximation for fast ions in NSTX. It was found that GC and FO simulations predicted substantially different steady-state distributions in both position and velocity space and different neutron emissivity profiles, leading to a 15% reduction in the predicted global neutron rate for FO relative to GC. These changes accompany a higher magnetic moment in FO, and correspond to a change in particle orbits from co-passing to trapped and stagnation orbits. ASCOT5 was also benchmarked against TRANSP/NUBEAM with input loaded entirely from TRANSP/NUBEAM output files, with agreement found between the GC simulations when finite Larmor radius (FLR) corrections were omitted. ASCOT5 FO and TRANSP/NUBEAM with FLR produced fast ion distributions which differed in localised regions, but predicted global neutron rates which agree within 3%.

ASCOT↗

Revealing Defect-Seeded and Interfacial Generation Mechanisms of Photoinduced Coherent Phonons with 4D Ultrafast Electron Microscopy

Ultrafast photoexcitation of coherent phonons is driven by an impulsive, collective displacement of constituent atoms from their average equilibrium lattice positions [1]. Models describing the generation of coherent acoustic modes typically invoke the creation of an anisotropic strain profile arising from the relatively instantaneous absorption of an ultrafast laser pulse [2]. If the skin depth is shallow relative to the specimen thickness, a steep tensile strain gradient perpendicular to the surface ($\frac{∂ε}{∂z}$) results. Initial relaxation occurs via rapid contraction of the surface layers followed by subsequent coherent oscillations of the lattice and launch of a train of coherent elastic strain waves [i.e., coherent acoustic phonons (CAPs)]. Macroscopically, responses are generally well-described by constitutive relations as gleaned from data gathered using ultrasonic methods or ultrafast spectroscopies. Furthermore, at the atomic to nanoscale level, individual lattice discontinuities and their impact on CAP behaviors can be modeled using multiscale methods [3,4]. Further, average unit-cell level responses on ultrafast timescales can be probed using femtosecond electron and X-ray scattering [5,6].

Flannigan, David J. [University of Minnesota, Minn↗