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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1980

A numerical study of the NOL large-scale test

The large-scale gap test was modeled numerically using the reactive hydrodynamics code 2DE with forest fire burn rates. The model gives good agreement between calculated and experimental critical gap values. The calibration of peak pressure in the gap versus gap length is obtained from these calculations, and is in good agreement with the published experiment curve. The two dimensional nature of the gap test is evident from the curvature of the shock wave in the gap and test sample, and from the observed distance of run to detonation in the test samples.

Bowan, A. L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Opposed-Flow Flame Spreading in Reduced Gravity

Experimental results obtained in drop towers and in Space Shuttle based experiments coupled with modelling efforts are beginning to provide information that is allowing an understanding to be developed of the physics of opposed-flow flame spread at reduced gravity where the spread rate and flow velocity are comparable and of the role played by radiative and diffusive processes in flame spreading in microgravity. Here we describe one Space Shuttle based experiment on flame spreading in a quiescent environment, the Solid Surface Combustion Experiment, SSCE, one planned microgravity experiment on flame spreading in a radiatively-controlled, forced opposing flow environment, the Diffusive and Radiative Transport in Fires Experiment, DARTFire, modelling efforts to support these experiments, and some results obtained to date.

Altenkirch, Robert A.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Cosmic: Carbon Monoxide And Soot In Microgravity Inverse Combustion

Almost seventy percent of fire related deaths are caused by the inhalation of toxins such as CO and soot that are produced when fires become underventilated.(1) Although studies have established the importance of CO formation during underventilated burning,(2) the formation processes of CO (and soot) in underventilated fires are not well understood. The goal of the COSMIC project is to study the formation processes of CO and soot in underventilated flames. A potential way to study CO and soot production in underventilated flames is the use of inverse diffusion flames (IDFs). An IDF forms between a central air jet and a surrounding fuel jet. IDFs are related to underventilated flames because they may allow CO and soot to escape unoxidized. Experiments and numerical simulations of laminar IDFs of CH4 and C2H4 were conducted in 1-g and micro-g to study CO and soot formation. Laminar flames were studied because turbulent models of underventilated fires are uncertain. Microgravity was used to alter CO and soot pathways. A IDF literature survey, providing background and establishing motivation for this research, was presented at the 5th IWMC.(3) Experimental results from 1-g C2H4 IDFs and comparisons with simulations, demonstrating similarities between IDFs and underventilated fires, were presented at the 6th IWMC.(4) This paper will present experimental results from micro-g and 1-g IDFs of CH4 and C2H4 as well as comparisons with simulations, further supporting the relation between IDFs and underventilated flames.

Mikofski, M. A.↗
DOE OSTI2026

NeuroCoreX: An Open-Source FPGA-Based Spiking Neural Network Emulator with On-Chip Learning

Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) are computational models inspired by the event-driven communication and connectivity patterns of biological neural circuits. They enable high energy efficiency and natural support for diverse architectures ranging from layered networks to small-world and graphstructured topologies. In this work, we introduce NeuroCoreX, an open-source, FPGA-based spiking neural network emulator that provides real-time, on-chip learning and flexible network organization. NeuroCoreX supports both feedforward sensory inputs streamed directly from sensors or PCs via UART and recurrent on-chip connectivity, enabling simultaneous processing and learning from external stimuli and internal network dynamics-capabilities rarely available in existing FPGA SNN platforms. The system implements a Leaky Integrate-and-Fire (LIF) neuron model with current-based synapses and supports pair-based STDP learning on both feedforward and recurrent synapses. A lightweight Python interface enables interactive configuration, live monitoring, weight read-back, and experiment control. Importantly, NeuroCoreX is tightly integrated with the SuperNeuroMAT simulator, allowing SNN models to be transferred seamlessly from software to hardware for hardware-in-the-loop development. By combining real-time plasticity, flexible connectivity, and an open-source VHDL implementation, NeuroCoreX provides an extensible and accessible platform for neuromorphic research, algorithm-hardware co-design, and energy-efficient edge intelligence.

Gautam, Ashish [ORNL]↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

(ODIN): An Open Source, Low-Latency Data Integration & Visualization Framework for the NASA System Wide Safety Project's Disaster Response Safety Demonstration Series

The Open Data Integration Framework (ODIN) is an open source, low latency data integration and visualization framework (https://github.com/NASARace/race-odin) developed under NASA’s System WideSafety Program to demonstrate new safety capabilities designed to improve US airspace operations. Safety demonstrations are a set of increasingly complex (from public safety perspective) disaster response scenarios under which air systems must operate with increased capacity and include: 1) Wildland fire response, 2) Hurricane relief and recovery, 4) Emergency medical delivery via UAS and 4) Urban disaster relief. To accommodate disaster response, ODIN is field deployable and can scale on one or more multi-core, commodity laptops operating with full to limited or intermittent internet connectivity, conditions likely encountered during operations. ODIN runs as webserver with local, persistent data storage to serve either public or a secured, ad hoc network (e.g., an incident command post). The current released ODIN, ODIN-Fire is tailored for wildland fire management incorporating information on satellite overpasses with links to the near real-time data and imagery from the respective agencies. Included are winds data, an important variable for emergency responders and airspace operations, and high-resolution wind forecasts generated by super-computing resources and ingested into ODIN. As an open-source project, ODIN has attracted interest from multiple entities. We will show how 1) a commercial field instrument and data provider uses ODIN to help users visualize, publish and integrate their in-situ sensor network data and 2) ODIN’s capabilities to ingest, integrate and display near-real time satellite data with air traffic and a USFS winds forecast model used in fire response and post-fire assessment. Within NASA ODIN demonstrated novel, near terminal airspace safety capabilities for a project close-out event and previously it monitored the national airspace in real-time to meet an agency milestone. ODIN is presently under development for the anticipated hurricane relief and response demonstration notionally scheduled for the 2025-27 time frame and is available from NASA's github at the above link.

Aeronautics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Fires jeopardize world’s carbon sinks

As climate change accelerates, fire regimes are increasingly disrupting ecosystems and carbon storage. Here, a modelling study reveals that fire is already acting to substantially weaken global carbon sinks, potentially undermining efforts to limit warming.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1980

Sympathetic reaction tests and analyses

The critical separation distances for explosive reactions of a solid rocket propellant were measured. Explosive reactions included low order explosion, low order detonation, and high order detonation. The effects of sample size, shape, damage and temperature on sympathetic reaction were determined experimentally. The sympathetic detonation of small cubes of solid rocket propellant was modelled numerically, using the Eulerian reactive hydrodynamic code 2DE with Forest Fire burn rates. The model was applied to cubes of 2.54 - 7.62 cm (1 - 3 in.), with agreement between calculated and experimental results.

Ricardson, D. E.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Impact of Forest Canopy Structure on Buoyant Plume Dynamics During Wildland Fires

Heterogeneous forest canopies can generate complex turbulent structures, but in the presence of a fire plume, these interactions are not fully understood. This study investigates the influence of forest canopy heterogeneity on buoyant plume dynamics resulting from surface thermal anomalies representing wildland fires, utilizing Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The Parallelized Large-Eddy Simulation Model (PALM) was employed to simulate six canopy configurations: no canopy, homogeneous canopy, external plume-edge canopy, internal plume-edge canopy, 100 m gap canopy, and 200 m gap canopy. Each configuration was analyzed with and without a static surface heat flux patch of 5000 W ∙ m -2 , resulting in a resting buoyant plume. Simulations were conducted under three crosswind speeds: 0, 5, and 10 m ∙ s -1 . Results show that canopy structure significantly modifies plume behavior, mean flow, and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budgets. Plume updraft speed and tilt varied with canopy configuration and crosswind speed. Horizontal pressure gradients associated with plume-atmosphere interaction were modified based on the canopy configuration, resulting in varying crosswind speed reductions at the plume region. Strong momentum absorption was observed above the canopy for the crosswind cases, with the greatest enhancement in the gap canopies. Momentum injection from below the canopy due to the heat source was also observed, resulting in plume structure modulation based on canopy configuration. TKE was found to be the largest in the gap canopy configurations. TKE budget analysis revealed that buoyant production dominated over shear production. At the center of the heat patch, the gap canopy configurations showed enhanced buoyancy within the gap. These results improve our knowledge of fire-canopy-atmosphere interactions that can inform fire models on the impacts of canopy heterogeneity on plume dynamics and ember ejections.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Revealing Hidden Quinones Through Diagnostic MS² Fragmentation of Peptide–Quinone Adducts

Quinones are redox-active components of natural organic matter that mediate electron transfer and influence biogeochemical processes, but many quinones in pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) remain unresolved because they ionize poorly by mass spectrometry. Here, we present a peptide-tagging approach to improve detection of cysteine-reactive electrophiles in PyOM, with quinones expected to be a dominant subset based on reaction chemistry and selectivity experiments. A cysteine-containing peptide was used to form Michael-addition adducts, enhancing electrospray ionization and enabling untargeted screening by high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry. The method was benchmarked with five quinone standards and applied to extracts from charred plant material as a discovery-level screen for cysteine-reactive targets. We identified 98 quinone-candidate adducts (mean neutral mass ~603 Da), of which more than 70% were not detectable in native MS1 data. Among formula-assigned features, hidden quinone candidates had median (O+N)/C of 0.391 and normalized oxidation state of carbon of -0.281, consistent with relatively low polarity and low oxidation state. These results reveal a previously inaccessible pool of hidden redox-active compounds in PyOM and provide a framework for prioritizing quinone-like electrophiles for confirmation and incorporation into models of fire-driven biogeochemical cycling.

LC-MS/MS↗
NASA NTRS1977

Remote moisture-content balance

Automatic balance monitors wetness of wood samples to determine forest fire hazards. Fuel model consists of four wooden dowels that will absorb precipitation moisture and humidity at rate related to moisture absorption by forest wood. Model wetness is determined from weight changes as monitored by electronic balance.

Blomseth, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1997

The historical contribution of solid rocket motors to the one centimeter debris population

The measured small particle population in earth orbit contains cm-sized objects that are not accounted for by breakup fragments. It was proposed that slag ejection during solid rocket motor burn is a contributor to this population. The direct evidence for such slag ejection follows from: observations of the exhausts of vehicles in flight, and engineering data from static firings. A source model is presented to account for the contribution of slag expulsion from solid rocket motors to the debris population. The mass and velocity distribution of the slag effluents are taken into account and used as a source term in the debris environment model. The model is based on the available observation data and on models for slag development and ejection.

Jackson, Albert↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA Standard Initiator Susceptibility to UHF and S-Band Radio Frequency Power and Lightning Strikes

The NASA Standard Initiator (NSI) is an important piece of pyrotechnic equipment used in many space applications. This paper outlines the results of a series of tests done at UHF and S-Band frequencies to determine NSI susceptibility to Radio Frequency (RF) power. The results show significant susceptibility to pulsed RF power in the S-Band region. Additional testing with lightning pulses injected into the firing line harness, modelling the indirect effects of a lightning strike to a spacecraft, showed no vulnerability.

Burnham, Karen↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA Standard Initiator Susceptibility to UHF and S-Band Radio Frequency Power and Lightning Strikes

The NASA Standard Initiator (NSI) is an important piece of pyrotechnic equipment used in many space applications. This presentation will outline the results of a series of tests done at UHF and S-Band frequencies to determine NSI susceptibility to Radio Frequency (RF) power. The results show significant susceptibility to pulsed RF power in the S-Band region. Additional testing with lightning pulses injected into the firing line harness, modelling the indirect effects of a lightning strike to a spacecraft, showed no vulnerability

Burnham, Karen↗
NASA NTRS2016

Assimilation of SMOS (and SMAP) Retrieved Soil Moisture into the Land Information System

Goal: Accurate, high-resolution (approx.3 km) soil moisture in near-real time. Situational awareness (drought assessment, flood and fire threat). Local modeling applications (to improve sfc-PBL exchanges) Method: Assimilate satellite soil moisture retrievals into a land surface model. Combines high-resolution geophysical model data with latest satellite observations.

land surface↗
NASA NTRS2017

DSMC simulations of the Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight EXperiment(SPIFEX)

During orbital maneuvers and proximity operations, a spacecraft fires its thrusters inducing plume impingement loads, heating and contamination to itself and to any other nearby spacecraft. These thruster firings are generally modeled using a combination of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and DSMC simulations. The Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight EXperiment(SPIFEX) produced data that can be compared to a high fidelity simulation. Due to the size of the Shuttle thrusters this problem was too resource intensive to be solved with DSMC when the experiment flew in 1994.

Stewart, Benedicte↗
NASA NTRS2017

Seasonal Impact of Regional Outdoor Biomass Burning on Air Pollution in Three Indian Cities: Delhi, Bengaluru, and Pune

Air pollution in many of India's cities exceeds national and international standards, and effective pollution control strategies require knowledge of the sources that contribute to air pollution and their spatiotemporal variability. In this study, we examine the influence of a single pollution source, outdoor biomass burning, on particulate matter (PM) concentrations, surface visibility, and aerosol optical depth (AOD) from 2007 to 2013 in three of the most populous Indian cities. We define the upwind regions, or "airsheds," for the cities by using atmospheric back trajectories from the HYSPLIT model. Using satellite fire radiative power (FRP) observations as a measure of fire activity, we target pre-monsoon and post-monsoon fires upwind of the Delhi National Capital Region and pre-monsoon fires surrounding Bengaluru and Pune. We find varying contributions of outdoor fires to different air quality metrics. For the post-monsoon burning season, we find that a subset of local meteorological variables (air temperature, humidity, sea level pressure, wind speed and direction) and FRP as the only pollution source explained 39% of variance in Delhi station PM(sub 10) anomalies, 77% in visibility, and 30% in satellite AOD; additionally, per unit increase in FRP within the daily airshed (1000 MW), PM(sub 10) increases by 16.34 micrograms per cubic meter, visibility decreases by 0.097 km, and satellite AOD increases by 0.07. In contrast, for the pre-monsoon burning season, we find less significant contributions from FRP to air quality in all three cities. Further, we attribute 99% of FRP from post-monsoon outdoor fires within Delhi's average airshed to agricultural burning. Our work suggests that although outdoor fires are not the dominant air pollution source in India throughout the year, post-monsoon fires contribute substantially to regional air pollution and high levels of population exposure around Delhi. During 3-day blocks of extreme PM(sub 2.5) in the 2013 post-monsoon burning season, which coincided with statistically significant high fire activity, concentrations in Delhi averaged 304 micrograms per cubic meter, or more than 1000% above the 24-h PM(sub 2.5) guideline (25 micrograms per cubic meter) of the World Health Organization. These results suggest that providing viable alternatives to agricultural residue burning could help improve post-monsoon air quality for a growing population of 63 million (39% in urban areas) within Delhi's airshed.

Air quality; Outdoor fires; Crop residue burning; ↗
NASA NTRS1998

Mapping the Distribution of Wildfire Fuels Using AVIRIS in the Santa Monica Mountains

Catastrophic wildfires, such as the 1990 Painted Cave Fire in Santa Barbara or Oakland fire of 1991, attest to the destructive potential of fire in the wildland/urban interface. For example, during the Painted Cave Fire, 673 structures were consumed over a period of only six hours at an estimated cost of 250 million dollars (Gomes et al., 1993). One of the primary sources of fuels is chaparral, which consists of plant species that are adapted to frequent fires and may actually promote its ignition and spread of through volatile organic compounds in foliage. As one of the most widely distributed plant communities in Southern California, and one of the most common vegetation types along the wildland urban interface, chaparral represents one of the greatest sources of wildfire hazard in the region. An ongoing NASA funded research project was initiated in 1994 to study the potential of AVIRIS for mapping wildfire fuel properties in Southern California chaparral. The project was initiated in the Santa Monica Mountains, an east-west trending range in western Los Angeles County that has experienced extremely high fire frequencies over the past 70 years. The Santa Monica Mountains were selected because they exemplify many of the problems facing the southwest, forming a complex mosaic of land ownership intermixed with a diversity of chaparral age classes and fuel loads. Furthermore, the area has a wide diversity of chaparral community types and a rich background in supporting geographic information including fire history, soils and topography. Recent fires in the Santa Monica Mountains, including several in 1993 and the Calabasas fire of 1996 attest to the active fire regime present in the area. The long term objectives of this project are to improve existing maps of wildland fuel properties in the area, link AVIRIS derived products to fuel models under development for the region, then predict fire hazard through models that simulate fire spread. In this paper, we describe the AVIRIS derived products we are developing to map wildland fuels.

Roberts, Dar↗
NASA NTRS2017

Quantifying Black Carbon Deposition Over the Greenland Ice Sheet from Forest Fires in Canada

Black carbon (BC) concentrations observed in 22 snowpits sampled in the northwest sector of the Greenland ice sheet in April 2014 have allowed us to identify a strong and widespread BC aerosol deposition event, which was dated to have accumulated in the pits from two snow storms between 27 July and 2 August 2013. This event comprises a significant portion (57 on average across all pits) of total BC deposition over 10 months (July 2013 to April 2014). Here we link this deposition event to forest fires burning in Canada during summer 2013 using modeling and remote sensing tools. Aerosols were detected by both the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (on board CALIPSO) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (Aqua) instruments during transport between Canada and Greenland. We use high-resolution regional chemical transport modeling (WRF-Chem) combined with high-resolution fire emissions (FINNv1.5) to study aerosol emissions, transport, and deposition during this event. The model captures the timing of the BC deposition event and shows that fires in Canada were the main source of deposited BC. However, the model underpredicts BC deposition compared to measurements at all sites by a factor of 2100. Underprediction of modeled BC deposition originates from uncertainties in fire emissions and model treatment of wet removal of aerosols. Improvements in model descriptions of precipitation scavenging and emissions from wildfires are needed to correctly predict deposition, which is critical for determining the climate impacts of aerosols that originate from fires.

albedo↗