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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.

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At least 217 records · Page 12

Photosynthesis-dependent isoprene emission from leaf to planet in a global carbon-chemistry-climate model

We describe the implementation of a biochemical model of isoprene emission that depends on the electron requirement for isoprene synthesis into the Farquhar/Ball- Berry leaf model of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance that is embedded within a global chemistry-climate simulation framework. The isoprene production is calculated as a function of electron transport-limited photosynthesis, intercellular carbon dioxide concentration, and canopy temperature. The vegetation biophysics module computes the photosynthetic uptake of carbon dioxide coupled with the transpiration of water vapor and the isoprene emission rate at the 30 min physical integration time step of the global chemistry-climate model. In the model, the rate of carbon assimilation provides the dominant control on isoprene emission variability over canopy temperature. A control simulation representative of the present day climatic state that uses plant functional types (PFTs), prescribed phenology and generic PFT-specific isoprene emission potentials (fraction of electrons available for isoprene synthesis) reproduces 50% of the variability across different ecosystems and seasons in a global database of measured campaign-average fluxes. Compared to time-varying isoprene flux measurements at select sites, the model authentically captures the observed variability in the 30 min average diurnal cycle (R 2 = 64-96 %) and simulates the flux magnitude to within a factor of 2. The control run yields a global isoprene source strength of 451 TgC yr -1 that increases by 30% in the artificial absence of plant water stress and by 55% for potential natural vegetation.

Unger, N.↗

Transitioning GlideinWMS, a multi domain distributed workload manager, from GSI proxies to tokens and other granular credentials

GlideinWMS is a distributed workload manager that has been used in production for many years to provision resources for experiments like CERN’s CMS, many Neutrino experiments, and the OSG. Its security model was based mainly on GSI (Grid Security Infrastructure), using X.509 certificate proxies and VOMS (Virtual Organization Membership Service) extensions. Even when other credentials, like SSH keys, were used to authenticate with resources, proxies were also added all the time, to establish the identity of the requestor and the associated memberships or privileges. This single credential was used for everything and was, often implicitly, forwarded wherever needed. The addition of identity and access tokens and the phase-out of GSI forced us to reconsider the security model of GlideinWMS, to handle multiple credentials which can differ in type, technology, and functionality. Both identity tokens and access tokens are supported. GSI proxies even if no more mandatory, are still used, together with various JWT (JSON Web Token) based tokens and other certificates. The functionality of the credentials, defined by issuer, audience, and scope, also differ: a credential can allow access to a computing resource, or can protect the GlideinWMS framework from tampering, or can grant read or write access to storage, can provide an identity for accounting or auditing, or can provide a combination of any the formers. Furthermore, the tools in use do not include automatic forwarding and renewal of the new credentials so credential lifetime and renewal requirements became part of the discussion as well. In this paper, we will present how GlideinWMS was able to change its design and code to respond to all these changes.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Photosynthesis-dependent Isoprene Emission from Leaf to Planet in a Global Carbon-chemistry-climate Model

We describe the implementation of a biochemical model of isoprene emission that depends on the electron requirement for isoprene synthesis into the FarquharBallBerry leaf model of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance that is embedded within a global chemistry-climate simulation framework. The isoprene production is calculated as a function of electron transport-limited photosynthesis, intercellular and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, and canopy temperature. The vegetation biophysics module computes the photosynthetic uptake of carbon dioxide coupled with the transpiration of water vapor and the isoprene emission rate at the 30 min physical integration time step of the global chemistry-climate model. In the model, the rate of carbon assimilation provides the dominant control on isoprene emission variability over canopy temperature. A control simulation representative of the present-day climatic state that uses 8 plant functional types (PFTs), prescribed phenology and generic PFT-specific isoprene emission potentials (fraction of electrons available for isoprene synthesis) reproduces 50 of the variability across different ecosystems and seasons in a global database of 28 measured campaign-average fluxes. Compared to time-varying isoprene flux measurements at 9 select sites, the model authentically captures the observed variability in the 30 min average diurnal cycle (R2 6496) and simulates the flux magnitude to within a factor of 2. The control run yields a global isoprene source strength of 451 TgC yr1 that increases by 30 in the artificial absence of plant water stress and by 55 for potential natural vegetation.

photosynthesis↗

Secure Data Logging and Processing with Blockchain and Machine Learning (Final Report)

Secure Data Logging and Processing with Blockchain and Machine Learning (ML) research is focused on the development of a platform to securely log and process sensor data in fossil power plants. The platform integrates two emerging technologies, blockchain and ML, and incorporates several innovative mechanisms to ensure the integrity, reliability, and resiliency of power systems. The goal is to protect the power plant from various cyberattacks such as false data injection and denial of service attacks using these technologies. The research goal was enabled by the following Research Project Objectives: 1) Secure authentication and identity verification of sensor nodes, actuators, and other equipment within a network. 2) Development of mechanisms that ensure only data sent by legitimate sensors are accepted and stored in the data repository. 3) Development of data aggregation methodologies using ML / Deep Learning (DL) algorithms to minimize noise / faulty data. 4) Implementation of the blockchain technologies to provide data security using secured IOTA framework & nodes.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

A Prototype Software to Demonstrate a Data Catalog for Hanford Environmental Datasets

Ensuring that data on long-term environmental remediation at the Hanford Site is high-quality, traceable, and easily accessible is an ongoing challenge, complicated by decades of data collection, multiple contractors maintaining data sources, and the wide range of data types. A centralized data catalog, known as the Hanford Environmental Information and Data Index (HEIDI), has been under development as part of the Hanford Environmental Data Management (HEDM) program to address these challenges. HEIDI fulfills a critical need to bring together a wide range of data types and sizes from multiple authoritative data sources, while documenting the data pedigree and quality information (i.e., traceable to the data source/originator). This document describes additional development and maturation of the HEIDI prototype. Key accomplishments included deploying the catalog software, Esri Geoportal Server, on a server accessible to Hanford Local Area Network users, conducting cybersecurity evaluations, investigating integrated authentication solutions, and conducting functional testing of the catalog prototype. The server-based deployment enabled targeted feedback, leading to enhancements including improved accessibility features and an expanded metadata schema. Specifications for the server-based deployment of the prototype catalog and the HEIDI metadata schema are provided in this document to support subsequent HEIDI deployment by the U.S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Field trial of the enhanced data authentication system (EDAS)

The Enhanced Data Authentication System (EDAS) is means to securely branch information from an existing measurement system or data stream to a secondary observer. In an international nuclear safeguards context, the EDAS connects to operator instrumentation, and provides a cryptographically secure copy of the information for a safeguards inspectorate. However, this novel capability could be a valuable complement to inspector-owned safeguards instrumentation, offering context that is valuable for anomaly resolution and contingency.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A Taxonomy and Feature set for Server-Side Identification of Proxies

Malicious actors frequently use proxies and VPNs to evade detection and hide their origin. Current challenges to information security include the use of residential proxies to blend in with normal traffic and Man-in-the-Middle phishing proxies that are used to compromise accounts protected with mult-factor authentication. We advance a taxonomy and feature set for the identification of proxied traffic based on the network layer where proxying occurs. We describe how these features apply to common proxy types and how to use these features in the classification of the proxied traffic. Collection of these additional features is feasible using existing network sensors and web servers, while only adding about 30% volume to commonly deployed network sensor logs.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

The Password Problem

Passwords are an ubiquitous, established part of the Internet today, but they are also a huge security headache. Single sign-on, OAuth, and password managers are some of the solutions to this problem. OAuth is a new, popular method that allows people to use large, common authentication providers for many web applications. However, it comes at the expense of some privacy: OAuth makes users easy to track across websites, applications, and devices. Password managers put the power in the hands of the users, but this vulnerability survey reveals that you have to be extremely careful which program you choose. All in all, password managers are the solution of choice for home users and small organizations, but large companies will probably want to invest in their own SSO solutions.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Fission Meter Information Barrier Attribute Measurement System: Task 1 Report: Document existing Fission Meter neutron IB system

An SNM attribute Information Barrier (IB) system was developed for a 2011 US/UK Exercise. The system was modified and extensively tested in a 2013-2014 US-UK Measurement Campaign. This work demonstrated rapid deployment of an IB system for potential treaty use. The system utilizes an Ortec Fission Meter neutron multiplicity counter and custom computer code. The system demonstrates a proof-of-principle automated Pu-240 mass determination with an information barrier. After a software start command is issued, the system automatically acquires and downloads data, performs an analysis, and displays the results. This system conveys the results of a Pu mass threshold measurements in a way the does not reveal sensitive information. In full IB mode, only red/green ‘lights’ are displayed in the software. In test mode, more detailed information is displayed. The code can also read in, analyze, and display results from previously acquired or simulated data. Because the equipment is commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS), the system demonstrates a low-cost short-lead-time technology for treaty SNM attribute measurements. A deployed system will likely require integration of additional authentication and tamper-indicating technologies. This will be discussed for the project in this and future progress reports.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

AQDrop Quantum Service (AQDrop) v1.0

AQDrop is a job management system designed to streamline access to the Advanced Quantum Testbed (AQT) at NERSC (National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center). It serves as a centralized middleware layer between researchers and quantum processing hardware. Key Features: AQDrop provides a FastAPI-based server backed by PostgreSQL for job submission, queue management, and role-based access control (members, operators, and administrators). Users submit Qiskit circuits via JSON payloads, which are queued, dispatched to the QPU through the Qubic API, and returned as measurement counts. A Python client library and web dashboard round out the interface options. Primary Use: Researchers submit quantum circuit jobs from a laptop or login node; an operator client executes those jobs on the AQT's physical QPU and returns results — all coordinated through the central API. Advantages: Compared to ad-hoc or direct hardware access, AQDrop adds structured queue management, auditable job-status tracking and OAuth2 authentication — reducing scheduling conflicts and unauthorized access. Its containerized deployment also improves reproducibility and scalability. Overall, AQDrop functions as a purpose-built quantum job broker tailored to NERSC's specific hardware and institutional access requirements.

Caplinger, Evan [Lawrence Berkeley National Labora↗

The Synchronic Web

The Synchronic Web is a distributed network for securing data provenance on the World Wide Web. By enabling clients around the world to freely commit digital information into a single shared view of history, it provides a foundational basis of truth on which to build decentralized and scalable trust across the Internet. Its core cryptographical capability allows mutually distrusting parties to create and verify statements of the following form: “I commit to this information—and only this information—at this moment in time.” The backbone of the Synchronic Web infrastructure is a simple, small, and semantic-free blockchain that is accessible to any Internet-enabled entity. The infrastructure is maintained by a permissioned network of well-known servers, called notaries, and accessed by a permissionless group of clients, called journals. Through an evolving stack of flexible and composable semantic specifications, the parties cooperate to generate synchronic commitments over arbitrary data. When integrated with existing infrastructures, adapted to diverse domains, and scaled across the breadth of cyberspace, the Synchronic Web provides a ubiquitous mechanism to lock the world’s data into unique points in discrete time and digital space. This document provides a technical description of the core Synchronic Web system. The distinguishing innovation in our design—and the enabling mechanism behind the model—is the novel use of verifiable maps to place authenticated content into canonically defined locations off-chain. While concrete specifications and software implementations of the Synchronic Web continue to evolve, the information covered in the body of this document should remain stable. We aim to present this information clearly and concisely for technical non-experts to understand the essential functionality and value proposition of the network. In the interest of promoting discourse, we take some liberty in projecting the potential implications of the new model.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Physical layer authentication of electronic communication networks

A network authentication system can be configured for sampling a plurality of signal samples from a device on a network, providing the plurality of signal samples to a first machine-learned model that is configured to determine a device fingerprint based at least in part on the plurality of signal samples, and providing the device fingerprint to a second machine-learned model that is configured to classify the device based at least in part on the device fingerprint.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Recommendations for Distributed Energy Resource Access Control

Cybersecurity for internet - connected Distributed Energy Resources (DER) is essential for the safe and reliable operation of the US power system. Many facets of DER cybersecurity are currently being investigated within different standards development organizations, research communities, and industry committees to address this critical need. This report covers DER access control guidance compiled by the Access Controls Subgroup of the SunSpec/Sandia DER Cybersecurity Workgroup. The goal of the group was to create a consensus - based technical framework to minimize the risk of unauthorized access to DER systems. The subgroup set out to define a strict control environment where users are authorized to access DER monitoring and control features through three steps: (a) user is identified using a proof-of-identity, (b) the user is authenticated by a managed database, (c) and the user is authorized for a specific level of access. DER access control also provides accountability and nonrepudiation within the power system control environment that can be used for forensic analysis and attribution in the event of a cyber-attack. This paper covers foundational requirements for a DER access control environment as well as offering a collection of possible policy, model, and mechanism implementation approaches for IEEE 1547-mandated communication protocols.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

DER Cybersecurity Standards: Assessment and Gap Analysis

The purpose of this report is to share the comprehensive gap analysis of existing cybersecurity standards applicable to Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) within the electric power sector. This analysis aims to identify critical deficiencies in current standards, assess their alignment with industry needs, and provide actionable recommendations for enhancing cybersecurity measures. The scope encompasses various DER technologies, including solar, wind, energy storage, and hydrogen fuel cells, and emphasizes the significance of establishing robust cybersecurity frameworks and standards to safeguard these increasingly integrated systems. The report provides valuable insights for stakeholders in the DER ecosystem, including manufacturers, utilities, and regulators. It underscores the importance of continued development and refinement of cybersecurity standards to keep up with the technical advances in DERs and associated cybersecurity challenges. The analysis evaluated IEC, IEEE, ISA, ISO, and UL standards relevant to DER cybersecurity. Standards were assessed on their coverage of key requirements including data availability, integrity, confidentiality, access control, authentication, encryption, and system hardening. For each standard, the analysis assessed its alignment with current industry practices, regulatory compliance, effectiveness in addressing known risks, coverage of emerging risks, and how it promotes interoperability. The evaluation also considered potential integration challenges and barriers to adoption.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Testbed and Simulation-based Evaluation of Privacy-preserving Algorithms for Smart Grid AMI Networks

Although smart meters are deployed in a lot of countries as a result of aiming to make the power grid more resilient and efficient, the data collection process from smart meters in Smart Grid (SG) has still challenges that relate to consumer privacy. Referred to as Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), the data collected and transmitted through this AMI can leak sensitive information about the consumers if it is sent as plaintext. While a number of solutions have been proposed in the past, the deployment of these solutions in real-life was not possible since the actual AMIs were not accessible to researchers. Therefore, a lot of solutions relied on simulations which may not be able to capture the performance of these solutions. In this paper, we pick a widely used homomorphic-based aggregation and implement it in a realistic testbed so that it can be compared with a simulation-based solution. Specifically, we develop a system that provides privacy with the Paillier cryptosystem and twofactor authentication with ECDSA and OpenSSL certificates. In order to test the system, an IEEE 802.11s-based SG AMI network testbed is constructed with Beaglebone Black boards that imitate the behavior of smart meters. The same network is also simulated in widely used ns-3. The results showed that ns-3 simulation and testbed results are parallel in most cases and the proposed system can perform effectively. However, there are still many differences that need to be taken into account in deploying real systems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Bridging the Gap between Earth Science and Students: An Integrated Approach using NASA Earth Science Climate Data

Under the auspices of the Department of Education's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, beginning in 2007 students will be tested in the science area. There are many techniques that educators can employ to teach students science. The use of authentic materials or in this case authentic data can be an engaging alternative to more traditional methods. An Earth science classroom is a great place for the integration of authentic data and science concepts. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a wealth of high quality Earth science data available to the general public. For instance, the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA s Langley Research Center houses over 800 Earth science data sets related to Earth's radiation budget, clouds, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry. These data sets were produced to increase academic understanding of the natural and anthropogenic factors that influence global climate; however, a major hurdle in using authentic data is the size of the data and data documentation. To facilitate the use of these data sets for educational purposes, the Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and Earth science for Teachers and Amateurs (MY NASA DATA) project has been established to systematically support educational activities at all levels of formal and informal education. The MY NASA DATA project accomplishes this by reducing these large data holdings to microsets that are easily accessible and explored by K-12 educators and students though the project's Web page. MY NASA DATA seeks to ease the difficulty in understanding the jargon-heavy language of Earth science. This manuscript will show how MY NASA DATA provides resources for NCLB implementation in the science area through an overview of the Web site, the different microsets available, the lesson plans and computer tools, and an overview of educational support mechanisms.

Alston, Erica J.↗

Prediction of Mass Spectral Response Factors from Predicted Chemometric Data for Druglike Molecules

A method is developed for the prediction of mass spectral ion counts of drug-like molecules using in silico calculated chemometric data. Various chemometric data, including polar and molecular surface areas, aqueous solvation free energies, and gas-phase and aqueous proton affinities were computed, and a statistically significant relationship between measured mass spectral ion counts and the combination of aqueous proton affinity and total molecular surface area was identified. In particular, through multilinear regression of ion counts on predicted chemometric data, we find that log{sub 10}(MS ion counts) = –4.824 + c{sub 1}•PA + c{sub 2}•SA, where PA is the aqueous proton affinity of the molecule computed at the SMD(aq)/M06-L/MIDI!//M06-L/MIDI! level of electronic structure theory, SA is the total surface area of the molecule in its conjugate base form, and c{sub 1} and c{sub 2} have values of –3.912 × 10{sup –2} mol kcal{sup –1} and 3.682 × 10{sup –3} Å{sup –2}. On a 66-molecule training set, this regression exhibits a multiple R value of 0.791 with p values for the intercept, c{sub 1}, and c{sub 2} of 1.4 × 10{sup –3}, 4.3 × 10{sup –10}, and 2.5 × 10{sup –6}, respectively. Application of this regression to an 11-molecule test set provides a good correlation of prediction with experiment (R = 0.905) albeit with a systematic underestimation of about 0.2 log units. This method may prove useful for semiquantitative analysis of drug metabolites for which MS response factors or authentic standards are not readily available. .

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Building a Trusted Roaming Hub [Slides]

The Trusted Roaming Hub is a U.S. Department of Energy-backed initiative led by the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) to address one of the most persistent challenges in electric vehicle (EV) charging: fragmented roaming, inconsistent interoperability, and insufficient digital trust across charging networks. As EV adoption accelerates and charging infrastructure scales nationwide, today's many-to-many integration model between eMobility Service Providers (eMSPs) and Charge Point Operators (CPOs) has become increasingly brittle, costly, and difficult to secure. The Trusted Roaming Hub introduces a neutral, cybersecurity-forward "switchboard" architecture that enables standardized, secure, and scalable roaming interactions across the EV charging ecosystem. Rather than replacing existing networks or commercial relationships, the hub acts as a trusted intermediary that enforces consistent identity, authentication, authorization, and routing across participants improving reliability for drivers, lowering integration burden for industry, and creating a foundation for future grid-interactive charging services. This read-ahead provides an overview of the problem the hub is designed to solve, the core functional and security concepts behind the architecture, the value proposition to key stakeholders, and the near-term trajectory of the work.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗