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At least 235 records · Page 13

Local Scale (3-M) Soil Moisture Mapping Using SMAP and Planet Superdove

A capability for mapping meter-level resolution soil moisture with frequent temporal sampling over large regions is essential for quantifying local-scale environmental heterogeneity and eco-hydrologic behavior. However, available surface soil moisture (SSM) products generally involve much coarser grain sizes ranging from 30 m to several 10s of kilometers. Hence a new method is proposed to estimate 3-m resolution SSM using a combination of multi-sensor fusion, machine- learning (ML) and Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) matching approaches. This method established favorable SSM correspondence between 3-m pixels and overlying 9-km grid cells from overlapping Planet SuperDove (PSD) observations and NASA Soil Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP) mission products. The resulting 3-m SSM predictions showed improved accuracy by reducing ab- solute bias and RMSE by ~0.01 cm3/cm3 over the original SMAP data in relation to in-situ soil moisture measurements for the Australian Yanco region, while preserving the high sampling frequency (1-3 day global revisit) and sensitivity to surface wetness (R 0.865) from SMAP. Heterogeneous soil moisture distributions varying with vegetation biomass gradients and irrigation regimes were generally captured within a selected study area. Further algorithm refinement and implementation for regional applications will allow for improvement in water resources management, precision agriculture, and disaster forecasts and responses.

soil moisture↗

Phosphate Textural Diversity in CI Chondrites and C-Type Asteroids

Introduction: Apatite, Ca 5 (PO 4 ) 3 (CL/F/OH-), is a ubiquitous phosphate found throughout the solar system, including the most primitive solids, CI-chondrites [1,2] and related samples of carbonaceous asteroids Ryugu [3] and Bennu [4], returned by JAXA’s Hayabusa2 and NASA’s OSIRIS-REx missions, respectively. Apatite in these primitive solids is found as individual grains or mineral clusters and has been inferred to form from the hydrothermal sequence during cooling of their respective parent body or bodies. To better understand the formation history and reworking of these early phosphates we have undertaken a highly coordinated study of phosphate microstructures, geochemistry and U/Pb geochronology from a suite of CI meteorites and carbonaceous asteroid samples. These data have identified novel phosphate microstructures and complex relationships across a suite of apatite grains from the early solar system, indicating multiple episodes of growth and modification on the CI parent body(ies). Methods: Samples of CI chondrites, Alais, Ivuna, Orgueil, Oued Chebeika 002, Yamato (Y) 82162, Y980115, Y980134, and two chips of Hayabusa2 Ryugu particles (A0262 and C0263) have been acquired for analysis. The bulk texture of the samples were first scanned by X-ray Computed Tomography (XCT) using the Nikon XT H 320 within the XFACT facility at NASA JSC or the Xradia 620 Versa at the UTCT facility. Based on the identification of petrofabrics or features of interest from the XCT data, samples were chipped, oriented, potted in epoxy and thick sections were prepared. After anhydrously polishing the samples with silicon carbide and dry diamond powder down to 1 µm, the samples were ion polished using a Hitachi ArBlade. Energy dispersive Xray spectrometry (EDS) maps were collected to ID phosphates of interest using a JEOL 7900F SEM. The internal microstructures of identified phosphates were then mapped by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) using the JEOL 7900F. Based on the EDS and EBSD data, domains of interest were targeted for quantitative chemical analyses using a JEOL 8530 EPMA. Subsequently, in situ U-Pb and 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages will be collected using a Cameca ims1290 secondary ion mass spectrometer at UCLA across a range of microstructures. Results: Apatite grains are ubiquitous throughout the CI chondrites and carbonaceous asteroid materials, found as individual grains, disseminated clusters or grain aggregates. Apatite grains are associated with serpentine, magnet-ite, and/or carbonate. Of particular interest, we have identified individual and aggregate polycrystalline grains ex-hibiting an internal ‘honeycomb’ texture (Fig. 1). Some of these grains appear overprinted by subsequent alteration while others remain unaltered. Apatite halogen sites are dominated by the missing component, assumed to be OH, and F, comparable to published values from Bennu, Ryugu and CM-chondrites [3-5]. However, the Yamato CI-like meteorites show a broader range of Cl values, and one grain from Alais is dominated by CL. Summary: Apatite growth features indicate a protracted and complex growth history, consistent with precipitation from an evolving fluid system. The ‘honeycomb’ texture identified in some CI meteorites is, to the best of our knowledge, the first report of such a microstructure in meteoritic phosphate. The microtextures and zoning will guide subsequent age analyses, to better constrain the formation and reworking of phosphate in CI(-like) materials. Acknowledgments: We thank the National Institute of Polar Research, Japan for samples of Y82162, 980115 and 980134 meteorites, ASU’s Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies for samples of Ivuna and Alais meteorites, and JAXA curation for chips of Ryugu material. This work was funded by NASA ROSES LARS grant 24-LARS24-0014. References: [1] Morlok et al., 2016, GCA 70:5371-5394. [2] Alfin g et al., 2019, Geochemistry 79:125532. [3] Nakamura et al. (2022) Science 379:1-15. [4] Seifert et al. (2026) MAPS 61:504-521. [5] Piralla et al. (2021) MAPS 56:809-828.

CI chondrites↗

Learning Latent Representations to Bridge Coarse-Grained and Atomistic Resolutions in Polymer Simulations

We present a machine-learning-based framework for learning reduced-order representations of polymer chain conformations across coarse-grained (CG) and united-atom (UA) fidelities. By employing linear singular value decomposition and nonlinear autoencoders, we compress high-dimensional polymer configurations into latent spaces with minimal loss of structural accuracy. Crucially, we demonstrate a near-perfect linear mapping between CG and UA latent spaces, enabling an efficient super-resolution back-mapping procedure that reconstructs high-fidelity UA configurations from CG simulations. While minor structural inaccuracies occur, they are effectively corrected through a brief molecular dynamics relaxation, forming a practical hybrid machine learning−physics scheme. This approach establishes the key structural prerequisites for accelerated polymer dynamics simulations: a compact and accurate latent encoding of polymer chain conformations and a validated multi-fidelity mapping that permits reconstruction of UA structures from CG configurations. The extension of this framework to explicit time evolution within the latent space, enabling dynamics to be propagated at CG fidelity and decoded to UA resolution only when required, represents a natural and well-motivated direction for future work.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Enhanced ATAMM for increased throughput performance of multicomputer data flow architectures

The Algorithm To Architecture Mapping Model (ATAMM) is a Petri-net-based model which provides a strategy for periodic execution of a class of real-time algorithms on multicomputer dataflow architectures. The problem domain of particular interest is the execution of large-grained, decision-free algorithms on homogeneous processing elements. Design techniques are discussed and performance measurements are defined. A multiple-graph execution strategy is shown to increase throughput performance. It is shown that the same increase in performance is attainable with minor modifications to the existing ATAMM.

Jones, R. L.↗

New Insights into the Composition and Texture of Lunar Regolith Using Ultrafast Automated Electron-Beam Analysis

Sieved grain mounts of Apollo 16 drive tube samples have been examined using QEMSCAN - an innovative electron beam technology. By combining multiple energy-dispersive X-ray detectors, fully automated control, and off-line image processing, to produce digital mineral maps of particles exposed on polished surfaces, the result is an unprecedented quantity of mineralogical and petrographic data, on a particle-by-particle basis. Experimental analysis of four size fractions (500-250 microns, 150-90 microns, 75-45 microns and < 20 microns), prepared from two samples (64002,374 and 64002,262), has produced a robust and uniform dataset which allows for the quantification of mineralogy; texture; particle shape, size and density; and the digital classification of distinct particle types in each measured sample. These preliminary data show that there is a decrease in plagioclase modal content and an opposing increase in glass modal content, with decreasing particle size. These findings, together with data on trace phases (metals, sulphides, phosphates, and oxides), provide not only new insights into the make-up of lunar regolith at the Apollo 16 landing site, but also key physical parameters which can be used to design lunar simulants, and compute Figures of Merit for each material produced.

Rickman, Doug↗

Diffusion and Deformation Mechanism Maps in Li Metal from Atomistic Simulations

The rate of Li transport in the Li metal anode is important for the operation of Li metal-solid state batteries. Here, transport rates due to diffusion and creep are predicted in Li using atomistic simulations. First, molecular dynamics is used to estimate the rate of Li diffusion along dislocations and in grain boundary triple junctions. By combining this data with that from a prior study of grain boundary diffusion the dominant mechanisms and rates of self-diffusion in Li polycrystals are predicted as a function of grain size, grain shape, dislocation density, and temperature. Second, the dominant creep mechanisms are predicted and used to estimate critical current densities and void annihilation times. Grain boundary sliding and coble creep are the dominant mechanisms for micron-sized grains. Lastly, a continuum model for interfacial contact loss reveals that high dislocation densities of ∼10 12 /cm 2 enable achieving battery performance targets for Li grain sizes of ∼10 μm.

Batteries↗

TEM Approaches for Microstructure-Informed Prediction of Mechanical Properties in Structural Alloys

Predicting the mechanical performance of structural alloys from their evolving microstructure remains a major challenge in materials science, particularly for nuclear structural materials, where irradiation-induced defects span multiple types and length scales and interact through complex mechanisms. The dispersed barrier hardening (DBH) [1] and Friedel–Kroupa–Hirsch (FKH) [2,3] models have been widely used to evaluate the hardening contributions of individual obstacles and to estimate tensile strength from quantified microstructures; however, when multiple size-dependent obstacles coexist and evolve, predicting temperature-dependent tensile strength becomes significantly more complex, and a fully consistent hardening model is still lacking. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) plays a central role in refining hardening models and enabling predictive assessments of tensile strength evolution by providing quantitative characterization of dislocations, irradiation-induced defects (e.g., dislocation loops and cavities), precipitates, and grain structure (Fig. 1.). These experimentally measured defect densities are incorporated into physically based hardening models with size- and shape- dependent obstacle strengths [4], using root-sum-square superposition for obstacles of comparable strength and linear superposition for dissimilar ones [5]. In addition, recent advances in TEM [6-8], including high-resolution imaging, 4D-STEM strain mapping, EDS/EELS elemental analysis, and flash-polishing-based TEM specimen preparation and extraction-replica methods (Fig. 2), further improve the accuracy of microstructural quantification. By comparison with prior studies as well as our own results, we show that when TEM-derived microstructural information is carefully integrated with physically grounded hardening models, yield strength (or irradiation-induced hardening) measured at room temperature can be predicted with good quantitative agreement across multiple alloy classes. In-situ TEM combined with high-temperature mechanical testing represents an important next step for refining hardening models by directly probing dislocation–obstacle interactions across varying irradiation doses and temperatures [9]. Because the barrier strength factor (α) depends on both temperature and obstacle size, it should not be treated as a constant fitting parameter; rather, it must be explicitly evaluated to achieve physically meaningful predictions of mechanical behaviour at operating temperatures. This presentation therefore discusses why all strengthening contributions (e.g., Peierls stress, solid-solution strengthening, voids, bubbles, dislocation loops, dislocation lines, and grain boundaries) must be considered collectively, why appropriate superposition methods are essential when obstacles possess different barrier strength factors, how hardness measurements can be meaningfully related to tensile properties, and how TEM-derived microstructural information can be systematically incorporated into hardening models. More broadly, it outlines a pathway toward microstructure-informed prediction of mechanical properties and supports the goal of establishing science-based tools for evaluating structural materials in extreme environments [10].

Lin, Yan-Ru [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000339991473)↗

Self-Organized Stress Distributions in Polycrystalline Materials [Dissertation]

Understanding stress distributions in solid materials is complicated by the fact that most materials are polycrystalline in nature, with each crystal having an elastically anisotropic reaction to force. This study is to gain a better understanding on how external forces placed on a polycrystal are related to internal reactions within and between the grains. The hypothesis is that the stress distribution in porous to fully dense materials are self-organized based on strong contacts between and within the individual grains created by force chains. Force chains, commonly known in loaded granular materials, and could be the phenomenon that connect micro to macro deformation. Scale bridging measurements conducted through Raman spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, and Digital Image Correlation will be used to create stress maps, modulus maps, and elastic strain maps across a variety of geological and pharmaceutical polycrystals. When possible, the resulting maps will be compared to current homogenization schemes and a full field models. Finite element modeling will be used to assess whether the patterning seen in the experimental map is a reasonable approximation based on the orientation data of the samples used. A minimum of three publications is projected to be accomplished focusing each on a different method to experimentally test and analyze stress distributions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

MPEX AI Digital Twins

All magnetically confined plasma fusion power plant concepts (Tokamak, Spherical Tokamak, Stellarator, Mirror, ...) must exhaust the heat and plasma from the core confinement region to the material walls. The primary channel for this exhaust is through a plasma divertor which directs plasma along open magnetic field lines to a material target. The Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX) illustrated in Figure 1, is a high-power, steady-state linear plasma device designed to produce the plasma material interaction (PMI) conditions of the divertor of future magnetic confinement fusion power plants: energy flux 20MW/m 2 , ion fluence 1031/m 2 , pulse duration 106 sec. These goals of plasma exposure in MPEX are well beyond those achieved in magnetic fusion experimental devices. Successfully achieving these high power steady state conditions for long pulses requires operational control of the heating and particle sources and the plasma flux to the walls and target. The MPEX AI Hot Spot Controller, proposed in this project, will help achieve the operational milestones of MPEX. The MPEX device will begin commissioning at the end of FY26. A smaller proto-MPEX was operated for 14,666 plasma discharges and will resume operation in September of 2025 as proto-MPEX-lite, with reduced capability, to test a new window for the Helicon plasma source. The proto-MPEX data has undergone surrogate modeling with machine learning methods (R. Archibald, 2022 IEEE International Conference on Big Data). This proto-MPEX data will be used to begin development of the AI digital twins described in this white paper. The scientific mission of MPEX is to qualify materials of different composition for use in the high energy and plasma flux conditions of a fusion power plant. The materials exposed in MPEX will in some cases be exposed to high neutron fluxes at other ORNL facilities to measure the changes to their PMI properties. The targets exposed in MPEX will be transported under vacuum to a Surface Analysis Station (SAS). The SAS will be equipped with the following diagnostics: Focused Ion Beam (FIB) for trench milling, 100-400 angstrom resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM), surface mapping x-ray spectrometer, high resolution camera, and a future upgrade to a laser induced breakdown spectroscopy quadruple mass spectrometer (LIBS-QMS). The MPEX experiments will generate diverse pre- and post-exposure measurement data of detailed material properties down to the crystal grain level in 3D for post-exposure assessment of PMI damage (e.g. cracking, melting, erosion and redeposition of the material). Physics models for the PMI, and how the material composition and manufacturing impact its performance under high energy plasma exposure, need to be validated with MPEX data to guide the selection of new candidate materials. Our vision for the MPEX AI Digital Twins project is to supply experimental and physics model simulation data to train Artificial Intelligence (AI) models for data processing, analysis, operational control, PMI and materials simulation to maximize the scientific output of the MPEX device. Ultimately, an AI digital twin of MPEX material assessment metrics for tested and synthetic material types with simulated PMI will be trained by the AI Modeling Teams on the experimental and physics simulation data submitted to the American Science Cloud by this project. A purely empirical search for the best material is inefficient given the finite number of samples that can be tested on MPEX. In order to expand the material properties database for training the MPEX Material Assessment AI Digital Twin, and to gain physics understanding of the PMI processes, physics models of the material properties and PMI processes are required. The physics simulations provide detailed simulation data, like impact angles for plasma ions, sputtering yields, transport of the ionized sputtered target material in the plasma, and redeposition locations. This simulation data expands the measurement data for deeper physics understanding. The experimental data is essential to validate the PMI and material structure simulation models. The validated models can then be used to generate new simulation data of MPEX material assessments for synthetic material compositions that have not been exposed in MPEX. These predictive simulations, plus the whole experimental dataset, will be used to train the MPEX Material Assessment AI Digital Twin allowing a rapid generative AI search for new materials with reduced PMI damage by interpolating the domain of the training set. These new optimum materials can be simulated with the physics codes and/or tested in MPEX. The ability of AI neural networks to interpolate multi-dimensional parameter spaces and generate virtual data is exploited for a more efficient search for optimum materials. The advent of the Transformational AI Models Consortium (TAIMC) is an opportunity to engage with state of the art private and public AI developers to achieve the goals of the AI digital twins and AI accelerated physics models proposed in this project. Our partners at ORNL from the Advance Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) organization will collaborate in accelerating the integrated plasma material interaction simulation framework. This simulation framework will provide a platform for generating simulation data across a range of physical fidelities, including hybrid methods that produce multi-fidelity results. This data will be leveraged for AI model development, both for generation of surrogates and the automation of simulation campaigns. A part of the research below will include collaborative efforts with the TAIMC to (i) adapt data storage approaches to ensure AI-readiness, (ii) provide a protypical exemplar to inform and exercise constructed workflows, and (iii) generate and share data, using the TAIMC unified AI data standard, for foundational models that will be trained from multiple sources across the DOE complex. We will also collaborate with the TAIMC, as well as the planned AI modeling teams, to develop approaches for reducing the cost of data generation. These include tailored multi-fidelity approaches as well as fine-tuning strategies to augment general, large-scale foundational models.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Vulnerability of Passive Microwave Snowfall Retrievals to Physical Properties of Snowpack: A Perspective from Dense Media Radiative Transfer Theory

The uncertainty of passive microwave retrievals of snowfall is notoriously high where the high-frequency surface emissivity is significantly reduced and varies markedly in response to changes of snowpack physical properties. Using the dense media radiative transfer theory, this article studies the potential effects of terrestrial snow-cover depth, density, and6grain size on high-frequency channels 89 and 166 GHz of the radiometer onboard the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core satellite, which are commonly used to capture the snowfall scattering signals. Integrating the inference across all feasible grain sizes, ranges of snowpack density and depth are identified over which the snowfall scattering signatures can be time varying and potentially obscured. Using 10 years of reanalysis data, the seasonal vulnerability of snowfall retrievals to changes of snowpack emissivity in the Northern Hemisphere is mapped in a probabilistic sense and connections are made with uncertainties of the GPM passive microwave snowfall retrievals. It is found that among different snow classes, relatively light Arctic tundra snow in fall, with a density below 260kg m−3, and shallow prairie snow during the winter, with a depth of less than 40cm, can reduce the surface emissivity and obscure the snowfall passive microwave signatures. It is demonstrated that, during the winter, the highly vulnerable areas are over Kazakhstan, and Mongolia with taiga and prairie snow. In the fall, these areas are largely over tundra and taiga snow in north of Russia and the Arctic Archipelagos as well as prairies in Canada and the Great Plains in the United States.

Reyhaneh Rahimi↗

Position-Dependent Neutron Time-of-Flight Deviation at VULCAN Diffractometer

In neutron diffraction, it is critical to precisely measure the lattice spacing, as it is an indicator of a material’s physical characteristics, such as lattice strain, thermal expansion, and phase structures. In time-of-flight (TOF) measurements, the lattice spacing is determined by the recorded TOF from a well-calibrated instrument. However, changes in neutron time-of-flight are sensitive to many factors, such as the alignment of instrument optics, temperature, sample positions, sample dimensions, internal strains, and chemical or physical heterogeneities at the grain level. At VULCAN (SNS, ORNL), which is a high-flux engineering neutron diffractometer, we used a 1-mm-diameter diamond powder sample to scan for changes in TOF by measuring d-spacing values at different sample positions under several configurations. The 2D map of the TOF deviation or d-spacing deviation, in terms of lattice shift/lattice strain, is reported. The change in TOF is dependent on the scanned location in the beam as well as on detector locations. The results are informative for experimental planning, data interpretation, and future instrument design.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Diffusion mechanisms in Ir-coated Re for high-temperature, radiation-cooled rocket thrusters

Materials used for radiation-cooled rocket thrusters must be capable of surviving under extreme conditions of high temperatures and oxidizing environments. Thruster chambers were developed using chemical-vapor-deposited (CVD) Re coated with CVD Ir on the inside surface which is exposed to hot combustion gases. Ir serves as an oxidation barrier protecting the Re which maintains structural integrity at high temperatures. In order to predict and extend the performance limits of these Ir-coated Re thrusters, the diffusion kinetics of CVD materials at temperature are studied. Thruster end ring sections were examined using electron microprobe analysis both before and after exposure to high temperature vacuum environments. The resulting elemental maps for Re, Ir, and Mo in the near-surface region allow identification of diffusion mechanisms operating at these temperatures. Line scans for Ir and Re were fit using a diffusion model to extract relevant diffusion constants. The fastest diffusion process is seen to be grain boundary diffusion with Re diffusing down grain boundaries in the Ir overlayer. The measured dependence of the diffusion rate on temperature will allow prediction of operating lifetimes for these thrusters.

Hamilton, J. C.↗

Microscopy of Analogs for Martian Dust and Soil

The upcoming Mars 2001 lander will carry an atomic force microscope (AFM) as part of the Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment (MECA) payload. By operating in a tapping mode, the AFM is capable of sub-nanometer resolution in three dimensions and can distinguish between substances of different compositions by employing phase-contrast imaging. Phase imaging is an extension of tapping-mode AFM that provides nanometer-scale information about surface composition not revealed in the topography. Phase imaging maps the phase of the cantilever oscillation during the tapping mode scan, hence detecting variations in composition, adhesion, friction, and viscoelasticity. Because phase imaging highlights edges and is not affected by large-scale height differences, it provides for clearer observation of fine features, such as grain edges, which can be obscured by rough topography. To prepare for the Mars 01 mission, we are testing the AFM on a lunar soil and terrestrial basaltic glasses to determine the AFMOs ability to define particle shapes and sizes and grain-surface textures. The test materials include the Apollo 17 soil 79221, which is a mixture of agglutinates, impact and volcanic beads, and mare and highland rock and mineral fragments. The majority of the lunar soil particles are less than 100 microns in size, comparable to the sizes estimated for Martian dust. The terrestrial samples are millimeter size basaltic glasses collected on Black Pointe at Mono Lake, just north of the Long Valley caldera in California. The basaltic glass formed by a phreatomagmatic eruption 13,000 years ago beneath a glacier that covered the Mono Lake region. Because basaltic glass formed by reworking of pyroclastic deposits may represent a likely source for Martian dunes, these basaltic glass samples represent plausible analogs to the types of particles that may be studied in sand dunes by the 01 lander and rover. We have used the AFM to examine several different soil particles at various resolutions. The instrument has demonstrated the ability to identify parallel ridges characteristic of twinning on a 150-micron plagioclase feldspar particle. Extremely small (10-100 nanometer) adhering particles are visible on the surface of the feldspar grain, and appear elongate with smooth surfaces. Phase contrast imaging of the nanometer particles shows several compositions to be present. When the AFM was applied to a 100-micron glass spherule, it was possible to define an extremely smooth surface.E Also visible on the surface of the glass spherule were chains of 100-nanometer- and-smaller impact melt droplets. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Anderson, M. A.↗

FINESSE: Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration

The FINESSE (Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration) team is focused on a science and exploration field-based research program aimed at generating strategic knowledge in preparation for the human and robotic exploration of the Moon, near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and Phobos and Deimos. We follow the philosophy that "science enables exploration and exploration enables science." 1) FINESSE Science: Understand the effects of volcanism and impacts as dominant planetary processes on the Moon, NEAs, and Phobos & Deimos. 2) FINESSE Exploration: Understand which exploration concepts of operations (ConOps) and capabilities enable and enhance scientific return. To accomplish these objectives, we are conducting an integrated research program focused on scientifically-driven field exploration at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho and at the West Clearwater Lake Impact Structure in northern Canada. Field deployments aimed at reconnaissance geology and data acquisition were conducted in 2014 at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Targets for data acquisition included selected sites at Kings Bowl eruptive fissure, lava field and blowout crater, Inferno Chasm vent and outflow channel, North Crater lava flow and Highway lava flow. Field investigation included (1) differential GPS (dGPS) measurements of lava flows, channels (and ejecta block at Kings Bowl); (2) LiDAR imaging of lava flow margins, surfaces and other selected features; (3) digital photographic documentation; (4) sampling for geochemical and petrographic analysis; (5) UAV aerial imagery of Kings Bowl and Inferno Chasm features; and (6) geologic assessment of targets and potential new targets. Over the course of the 5-week field FINESSE campaign to the West Clearwater Impact Structure (WCIS) in 2014, the team focused on several WCIS research topics, including impactites, central uplift formation, the impact-generated hydrothermal system, multichronometer dating of impact products, and using WCIS as an analog test site for crew studies of sampling protocols. The FINESSE team visited and mapped all of the major islands within West Clearwater Lake. Excellent cliff exposures around the coasts of many of the islands allowed a general stratigraphy of impactites to be defined. Notable differences to previous work includes the discovery of a monomict lithic breccia and a medium to coarse grained impact melt rock. In addition, ample rock samples were returned from West Clearwater for geochronology study. Geochronology work centers around laboratory analyses of these samples (and samples collected in the future or obtained from archives housed at the Canadian Geological Survey). Samples returned from the FINESSE field season have been evaluated for suitability for geochronologic analysis, and selected samples have been crushed for mineral separation and/or sawed for the preparation of polished petrologic thin sections. Heavy minerals (e.g., zircon, titanite, and apatite) will be separated from the crushed material for (U-Th)/He geochronology. The sections will be used for laser ablation 40Ar/39Ar research after neutron irradiation. This presentation will highlight the exciting science and exploration work conducted by FINESSE, as well as future plans for continued research.

Phobos & Deimos↗

Tailoring additive manufacturing to optimize dynamic properties in 316L stainless steel

With the advent of additive manufacturing, manipulation of typical microstructural elements such as grain size, texture, and defect densities is now possible at a faster time scale. While the processing–structure–property relationship in additive manufactured metals has been well studied over the past decade, little work has been done in understanding how this process affects the dynamic behavior of materials. We postulate that additive manufacturing can be used to alter the material microstructure and used to enhance its dynamic strength. In this work, 316L stainless steel (SS) was manufactured via selected laser melting and its microstructure was altered through changing build parameters like laser power, speed, and hatch spacing systematically. These samples were then subjected to spall recovery experiments to measure the spall strength and quantify the amount of damage as a function of build parameters. By mapping the spall strength as a function of build parameters, this work demonstrated that indeed additive manufacturing can be used to tailor the spall strength of 316L SS. This work also determined the optimum build parameters (laser power=195W; scanning speed=1083mm/s; hatch spacing=0.09mm; layer thickness=0.02mm) to obtain the highest spall strength and the least amount of total damage in 316L SS. Microstructural characterization of the pre- and post-mortem samples revealed that increased grain average misorientation and textural index were the main driving force behind this higher spall strength. This work aims to enhance microstructural engineering techniques to design materials with greater resistance to dynamic shock loading.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Mass Spectum Imaging of Organics Injected into Stardust Aerogel by Cometary Impacts

Comets have largely escaped the hydrothermal processing that has affected the chemistry and mineralogy of even the most primitive meteorites. Consequently, they are expected to better preserve nebular and interstellar organic materials. Organic matter constitutes roughly 20-30% by weight of vol-atile and refractory cometary materials [1,2]. Yet organic matter identified in Stardust aerogel samples is only a minor component [3-5]. The dearth of intact organic matter, fine-grained and pre-solar materials led to suggestions that comet 81P/Wild-2 is com-posed largely of altered materials, and is more similar to meteorites than the primitive view of comets [6]. However, fine-grained materials are particularly susceptible to alteration and destruction during the hypervelocity impact. While hypervelocity capture can cause thermal pyrolysis of organic phases, some of the impacting organic component appears to have been explosively dispersed into surrounding aerogel [7]. We used a two-step laser mass spectrometer to map the distribution of organic matter within and sur-rounding a bulbous Stardust track to constrain the dispersion of organic matter during the impact.

Clemett, S. J.↗

Thermal mapping of the northern equatorial and temperate latitudes of Mars

The paper describes the mapping of nighttime temperatures over the northern hemisphere of Mars by using Viking infrared thermal mapping observations. It is shown that large variations of the temperature residual, -45 to +19 K, are related primarily to the thermal inertia of the surface. A general hypothesis is given for the transport of loose material on the Martian surface, which invokes the stability of the smooth, fine-grained surfaces to account for the bimodal thermal behavior observed.

Zimbelman, J. R.↗

Development of Machine Learning Algorithms to Segment and Study Images of Astromaterial Samples

Introduction: Micrometer-scale chemical analyses of chondritic meteorites and mission-returned asteroid samples can reveal details of the physical and chemical processes operating in the early solar system, including processes that gave rise to planets, moons, and minor bodies. These primitive astromaterials are comprised of chondrules, calcium- and aluminum-rich inclusions (CAI), and many other silicates, oxides, metals, sulfides, and fine-grained materials. The chemical and mineralogical complexity of these samples, vast populations of different components, and heterogeneity across mm to km scales, all limit our understanding of the origin and evolution of these materials. Here, we describe recent efforts to use machine learning techniques to automate the segmentation of chemical maps of chondritic meteorites, designed to aid studies of asteroid samples returned by spacecraft. By automating the task of segmentation it will become possible to rapidly analyze and interpret the sizes, shapes, mineralogy, chemistry, and other properties of every chondrule, calcium- and aluminum-rich inclusion (CAI) and other clast within and between asteroid samples. Sample return missions significantly accelerate and heighten the need to develop such new data analysis techniques, and associated data repositories. Techniques: Neural networks require abundant training data, i.e. images which have been segmented by a human user. We have manually segmented data available from previous petrologic and chemical work at NASA Johnson Space Center and the American Museum of Natural History [1-4]. These data were derived from energy- and wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS, WDS) mapping of samples from many chondrite groups. The Deeplabv3+ [5] neural network architecture was trained on human-labeled masks and used to create machine-labeled masks. Several different algorithms were investigated, with inputs ranging from common RGB image formats through to hyperspectral datasets, with raw data comprising greyscale maps of Mg, Ca, and Al, with or without Si, Fe, Ti for both EDS and WDS data, and extending to other elements in EDS only. Each greyscale image was paired with a binary mask for each labelled particle type. Results: The trained algorithms can segment (Fig 1), classify, and measure the dimensions of thousands of particles in chemical maps of a standard 1-inch round petrographic section in seconds to minutes, rather than many hours needed by a human. Accuracy of the algorithms varied from chondrite to chondrite and across particle types. Further results and details of the algorithms will be presented at the workshop. Future directions: Machine learning has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of complex particle populations contained within primitive astromaterial, with segmentation being a critical first step. Example applications include better understanding of particle transport, nebular reservoirs, parent body accretion, and a deeper understanding of the relationships between particle populations and bulk rock elemental and isotopic compositions. In addition to benefits that machine learning can bring to individual researchers, building a community data repository of thousands to millions of particles across hundreds of samples will open up many other possibilities. For example, with a large enough dataset it will be possible to search for exceptionally closely matching particles across disparate samples. Such a capability would enable a single CAI from OSIRISREx or Hayabusa/II samples to be matched to chondritic CAIs that exhibit near-identical size, texture, and mineralogy, down to the level of similar core phenocrysts, zonation, and rim sequences. Such comparative analyses will help to disentangle precursor chemistry, chronology, gas/dust reservoirs during heating, and accretion. Such an endeavor would be impossible without machine learning and a large community data repository of astromaterial chemical/mineralogic maps.

Machine Learning↗