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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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2013

Estimating Ground-Level PM(sub 2.5) Concentrations in the Southeastern United States Using MAIAC AOD Retrievals and a Two-Stage Model

Previous studies showed that fine particulate matter (PM(sub 2.5), particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in aerodynamic diameter) is associated with various health outcomes. Ground in situ measurements of PM(sub 2.5) concentrations are considered to be the gold standard, but are time-consuming and costly. Satellite-retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD) products have the potential to supplement the ground monitoring networks to provide spatiotemporally-resolved PM(sub 2.5) exposure estimates. However, the coarse resolutions (e.g., 10 km) of the satellite AOD products used in previous studies make it very difficult to estimate urban-scale PM(sub 2.5) characteristics that are crucial to population-based PM(sub 2.5) health effects research. In this paper, a new aerosol product with 1 km spatial resolution derived by the Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm was examined using a two-stage spatial statistical model with meteorological fields (e.g., wind speed) and land use parameters (e.g., forest cover, road length, elevation, and point emissions) as ancillary variables to estimate daily mean PM(sub 2.5) concentrations. The study area is the southeastern U.S., and data for 2003 were collected from various sources. A cross validation approach was implemented for model validation. We obtained R(sup 2) of 0.83, mean prediction error (MPE) of 1.89 micrograms/cu m, and square root of the mean squared prediction errors (RMSPE) of 2.73 micrograms/cu m in model fitting, and R(sup 2) of 0.67, MPE of 2.54 micrograms/cu m, and RMSPE of 3.88 micrograms/cu m in cross validation. Both model fitting and cross validation indicate a good fit between the dependent variable and predictor variables. The results showed that 1 km spatial resolution MAIAC AOD can be used to estimate PM(sub 2.5) concentrations.

aerosol optical depth↗
NASA NTRS2016

Bringing Gravity to Space

This panel will present NASA's plans for ongoing and future research to define the requirements for Artificial Gravity (AG) as a countermeasure against the negative health effects of long-duration weightlessness. AG could mitigate the gravity-sensitive effects of spaceflight across a host of physiological systems. Bringing gravity to space could mitigate the sensorimotor and neuro-vestibular disturbances induced by G-transitions upon reaching a planetary body, and the cardiovascular deconditioning and musculoskeletal weakness induced by weightlessness. Of particular interest for AG during deep-space missions is mitigation of the Visual Impairment Intracranial Pressure (VIIP) syndrome that the majority of astronauts exhibit in space to varying degrees, and which presumably is associated with weightlessness-induced fluid shift from lower to upper body segments. AG could be very effective for reversing the fluid shift and thus help prevent VIIP. The first presentation by Dr. Charles will summarize some of the ground-based and (very little) space-based research that has been conducted on AG by the various space programs. Dr. Paloski will address the use of AG during deep-space exploration-class missions and describe the different AG scenarios such as intra-vehicular, part-of-vehicle, or whole-vehicle centrifugations. Dr. Clement will discuss currently planned NASA research as well as how to coordinate future activities among NASA's international partners. Dr. Barr will describe some possible future plans for using space- and ground-based partial-G analogs to define the relationship between physiological responses and G levels between 0 and 1. Finally, Dr. Stenger will summarize how the human cardiovascular system could benefit from intermittent short-radius centrifugations during long-duration missions.

Norsk, P.↗
NASA NTRS2015

A Historical Perspective on Primary and Possible Secondary Sources of Atmospheric Carbon Tetrachloride

Atmospheric sources of Carbon Tetrachloride (CTC) have been controversial since its detection in the early 1970. Initial proposals were that it is globally uniformly distributed and its lack of current emissions and inferred lifetime indicated that it was likely of natural origin. Historical analysis of CTC use and emissions showed that atmospheric CTC was long-lived and mainly of man-made origin although small natural sources and sinks (e. g. oceans) could not be ruled out. This deduction was hard because a majority of emissions had occurred in early part of the 20th century when CTC was commonly used as a fumigant, a solvent, and a raw material for the manufacture of many chemicals. In the 1940's adverse health effects of exposure to CTC became evident and its emissions were greatly curtailed and substituted with C2Cl4 which was thought to be much safer. There were smog chamber studies that showed that C2Cl4, a widely used solvent during the late 20th century, could produce CTC with up to a 7% yield. Subsequently it was discovered that this chemistry probably required Cl atoms and since Cl atoms were not abundant in the atmosphere actual yields based on OH oxidation were probably closer to 0.1%. CTC was subsequently banned by the Montreal Protocol to prevent stratospheric ozone depletion and its preferred substitute C2Cl4 was also banned by EPA for reasons of potential carcinogenicity and toxicity. CTC since has been measured in many airborne NASA campaigns in which plumes have been sampled from a variety of regions which may still be emitting CTC. I will briefly discuss this historical perspective of CTC and show some recent data that may shed light on its current sources or lack there off.

atmosphere↗
NASA NTRS2015

2015 Advanced Environmental Health/Advanced Food Technology Standing Review Panel

The 2015 Advanced Environmental Health/Advanced Food Technology (AEH/AFT) Standing Review Panel (from here on referred to as the SRP) met for a site visit in Houston, TX on December 14 - 15, 2015. The SRP met with representatives from the Space Human Factors and Habitability (SHFH) Element and members of the Human Research Program (HRP) to review the updated research plans for the Risk of Adverse Health Effects Due to Host-Microorganism Interactions (MicroHost Risk) and the Risk of Performance Decrement and Crew Illness due to an Inadequate Food System (Food Risk). During the meeting, the SRP also met with the vehicle engineers to discuss possible food storage options. The SRP would like to commend Dr. Oubre and Dr. Douglas for their detailed presentations, as well the frank, refreshing, and comprehensive engineering presentation. This gave much needed perspective to the food storage issues and reassured the committee about NASA's approach to the problem. In terms of critiques, the SRP remains unconvinced about the rationale for probiotic use other than for specific applications supported by the literature. It is not clear what gap or problem is being addressed by the use of probiotics, and the rationale for their use needs to be clearly rooted in the available literature. The SRP thinks that if low-Earth orbit is associated with immune system impairment, then there may additional risks linked with the use of probiotics. It is not clear to the SRP how NASA will determine if probiotics are having their intended beneficial effect. A similar concern is raised as to what gaps or problems are being addressed by "functional foods". Mixed infections, rather than single species infections, which can augment severity of disease, also represent a significant concern. Overall, the SRP considers this to be a strong program that is well-organized, well-coordinated and generates valuable data.

Steinberg, Susan↗
NASA NTRS2017

Skin-Based DNA Repair Phenotype for Cancer Risk from GCR in Genetically Diverse Populations

Predicting cancer risk associated with cosmic radiation remains a mission-critical challenge for NASA radiation health scientists and mission planners. Epidemiological data are lacking and risk methods do not take individual radiation sensitivity into account. In our approach we hypothesize that genetic factors strongly influence risk of cancer from space radiation and that biomarkers reflecting DNA damage and cell death are ideal tools to predict risk and monitor potential health effects post-flight. At this workshop, we will be reporting the work we have done over the first 9 months of this proposal. Skin cells from 15 different strains of mice already characterized for radiation-induced cancer sensitivity (B6C3F; BALB/cByJ, C57BL/6J, CBA/CaJ, C3H/HeMsNrsf), and 10 strains from the DOE collaborative cross-mouse model were expanded from ear biopsy and cultivated until Passage 3. On average, 3 males and 3 females for each strain were expanded and frozen for further characterization at the NSRL beam line during the NSRL16C run for three LET (350 MeV/n Si, 350 MeV/n Ar and 600 MeV/n Fe) and two ion fluences (1 and 3 particles per cell). The mice work has established new metrics for the usage of Radiation Induced Foci as a marker for various aspect of DNA repair deficiencies. In year 2, we propose to continue characterization of the mouse lines with low LET to identify loci specific to high- versus low- LET and establish genetic linkage for the various DNA repair biomarkers. Correlation with cancer risk from each animals strain and gender will also be investigated. On the human side, we will start characterizing the DNA damage response induced ex-vivo in 200 human's blood donors for radiation sensitivity with a tentative 500 donors by the end of this project. All ex-vivo phenotypic data will be correlated to genetic characterization of each individual human donors using SNP arrays characterization as done for mice. Similarly, ex-vivo phenotypic features from mice will be associated to cancer risk, to identify which biomarkers correlate the most with cancer risk. Genetic traits across humans will also be associated to radiation phenotypic features as a function of age and gender.

radiation space biology↗
NASA NTRS2016

Characterization of Particulate Matter Profiling and Alveolar Deposition from Biomass Burning in Northern Thailand: The 7-SEAS Study

Biomass burning (BB) frequently occurs in SouthEast Asia (SEA), which significantly affects the air quality and could consequently lead to adverse health effects. The aim of this study was to characterize particulate matter (PM) and black carbon (BC) emitted from BB source regions in SEA and their potential of deposition in the alveolar region of human lungs. A 31-day characterization of PM profiling was conducted at the Doi Ang Khang (DAK) meteorology station in northern Thailand in March 2013. Substantial numbers of PM (10147 +/- 5800 # per cubic centimeter) with a geometric mean diameter (GMD) of 114.4 +/- 9.2 nm were found at the study site. The PM of less than 2.5 micron in aerodynamic diameter (PM sub 2.5) hourly-average mass concentration was 78.0 +/- 34.5 per cubic microgram whereas the black carbon (BC) mass concentration was 4.4 +/- 2.6 micrograms per cubic meter. Notably, high concentrations of nanoparticle surface area (100.5 +/- 54.6 square micrometers per cubic centimeter) emitted from biomass burning can be inhaled into the human alveolar region. Significant correlations with fire counts within different ranges around DAK were found for particle number, the surface area concentration of alveolar deposition, and BC. In conclusion, biomass burning is an important PM source in SEA, particularly nanoparticles, which has high potency to be inhaled into the lung environment and interact with alveolar cells, leading to adverse respiratory effects. The fire counts within 100 to 150 km shows the highest Pearson's r for particle number and surface area concentration. It suggests 12 to 24 hr could be a fair time scale for initial aging process of BB aerosols. Importantly, the people lives in this region could have higher risk for PM exposure.

biomass burning↗
NASA NTRS2017

The Potential Impact of Satellite-Retrieved Cloud Parameters on Ground-Level PM2.5 Mass and Composition

Satellite-retrieved aerosol optical properties have been extensively used to estimate ground-level fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations in support of air pollution health effects research and air quality assessment at the urban to global scales. However, a large proportion, approximately 70%, of satellite observations of aerosols are missing as a result of cloud-cover, surface brightness, and snow-cover. The resulting PM2.5 estimates could therefore be biased due to this non-random data missingness. Cloud-cover in particular has the potential to impact ground-level PM2.5 concentrations through complex chemical and physical processes. We developed a series of statistical models using the Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) aerosol product at 1 km resolution with information from the MODIS cloud product and meteorological information to investigate the extent to which cloud parameters and associated meteorological conditions impact ground-level aerosols at two urban sites in the US: Atlanta and San Francisco. We find that changes in temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, planetary boundary layer height, convective available potential energy, precipitation, cloud effective radius, cloud optical depth, and cloud emissivity are associated with changes in PM2.5 concentration and composition, and the changes differ by overpass time and cloud phase as well as between the San Francisco and Atlanta sites. A case-study at the San Francisco site confirmed that accounting for cloud-cover and associated meteorological conditions could substantially alter the spatial distribution of monthly ground-level PM2.5 concentrations.

MAIAC AO↗
NASA NTRS2017

Modelling and Holographic Visualization of Space Radiation-Induced DNA Damage

Space radiation is composed by a mixture of ions of different energies. Among these, heavy inos are of particular importance because their health effects are poorly understood. In. the recent years, a software named RITRACKS (Relativistic Ion Tracks) was developed to simulate the detailed radiation track structure, several DNA models and DNA damage. As the DNA structure is complex due to packing, it is difficult to the damage using a regular computer screen.

Plante, Ianik↗
NASA NTRS2016

Estimation of Daily PM(sub 10) Concentrations in Italy (2006-2012) Using Finely Resolved Satellite Data, Land Use Variables and Meteorology

Health effects of air pollution, especially particulate matter (PM), have been widely investigated. However, most of the studies rely on few monitors located in urban areas for short-term assessments, or land use/dispersion modelling for long-term evaluations, again mostly in cities. Recently, the availability of finely resolved satellite data provides an opportunity to estimate daily concentrations of air pollutants over wide spatio-temporal domains. Italy lacks a robust and validated high resolution spatio-temporally resolved model of particulate matter. The complex topography and the air mixture from both natural and anthropogenic sources are great challenges difficult to be addressed. We combined finely resolved data on Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) from the Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm, ground-level PM10measurements, land-use variables and meteorological parameters into a four-stage mixed model framework to derive estimates of daily PM10concentrations at 1-km2 grid over Italy, for the years 2006-2012. We checked performance of our models by applying 10-fold cross-validation (CV) for each year. Our models displayed good fitting, with mean CV-R2=0.65 and little bias (average slope of predicted VS observed PM10=0.99). Out-of-sample predictions were more accurate in Northern Italy (Po valley) and large conurbations (e.g. Rome), for background monitoring stations, and in the winter season. Resulting concentration maps showed highest average PM10levels in specific areas (Po river valley, main industrial and metropolitan areas) with decreasing trends over time. Our daily predictions of PM10concentrations across the whole Italy will allow, for the first time, estimation of long-term and short-term effects of air pollution nationwide, even in areas lacking monitoring data. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Particulate Matter/analysis↗
NASA NTRS2018

Characterization and Analysis of Aerosol Particle Retention and Re-aerosolization from Hook-and-Loop Fasteners on the International Space Station

The extensive use of hook and loop fasteners aboard the International Space Station warrants careful examination of its contribution to indoor air pollution, as its fine fibers catch aerosol particles then re-aerosolize them upon being pulled apart, often within the breathing zone of astronauts. This problem is expanded by the lack of gravity because airborne particles larger than 1 micrometer do not settle. Instead these aerosols remain in the air until removed by filtration. Aerosol inhalation can have negative health effects, ranging from acute symptoms to long-term consequences, depending on particle sizes, mass and material composition. This study characterizes the size distribution, number concentration, and mass concentration of re-aerosolized debris generated by hook and loop fasteners taken from the stray light cover of the Microgravity Science Glovebox in the U.S. Laboratory of the ISS to understand the extent of its impact on air quality. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), in conjunction with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were also used to characterize the morphology and composition of the particles.

Boyajian, Barbara↗
NASA NTRS2019

The Impacts of Cabin Atmosphere Quality Standards and Control Loads on Atmosphere Revitalization Process Design

Maintaining the cabin atmosphere’s pressure, composition, and quality within specified parameters is a necessity for successful crewed space exploration missions. A properly maintained environment minimizes health impacts on the occupants and maximizes their comfort. The challenge is to accomplish this outcome economically. The insight gained during the International Space Station’s (ISS) operational lifetime is driving toward more challenging cabin atmospheric quality standards for future exploration missions. At the same time, the metabolic loads are increasing to accommodate a broader crew body size range and more rigorous exercise protocols to mitigate health effects associated with long duration microgravity exposure. Compounding this situation is new process equipment for handling trash and waste that may vent contaminants into the cabin. The limits placed on the cabin atmospheric quality parameters combined with the contaminant load define the design space for the atmosphere revitalization (AR) subsystem technologies to be deployed aboard the spacecraft. The impacts of changes to cabin atmospheric quality standards and contamination loads are evaluated and implications to future crewed exploration missions are explored.

Perry, Jay L.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Developing an Air Quality Index for Microgravity Indoor Environments/Space Missions

Indoor pollution sources (on Earth) that release gases or particles into the air are the primary cause of air quality problems in indoor environments. The development of an adequate tool to understand pollution levels in a certain location is of high importance. This tool must be able to inform about the levels of pollution in a simple and understandable way but also, used to take a series of predetermined measures to protect the health of the exposed population. One of the most useful and up to date approaches for characterizing air pollution is the Air Quality Index (AQI). It is an easily-calculated powerful data-driven tool, that summarizes a complex phenomenon, such as air pollution, in straightforward indicators. The AQI system has been developed in different countries around the world, mainly for outdoor environments, based on the results of risk assessments, epidemiology studies, and current local air pollution regulations and standards.Air quality in microgravity indoor environments is of fundamental importance to crew health, with concerns encompassing both gaseous contaminants and particulate matter. Although the concentration of gases in the microgravity indoor environment is well studied, aerosols remain one of the major pollutants that affect air quality and has reported adverse health effects and hasn't been reported under these unique conditions. Earth-based AQIs can't be extrapolated to microgravity indoor environments due to different aerosol characteristics and altered lung deposition in low gravity.Concurrent with the aerosol-focused AQI effort, we assess and document how the process would apply for combining particles & gases into a composite index, with the ability to query each AQI independently. All this information can be combined in a spacecraft-specific AQI for future space missions and habitats. The objective of this work are to determine what areas of expertise will contribute, what research and data will be required, and explore the scope of effort needed to formulate a spacecraft AQI in addition to analyzing ISS aerosol sampling data and incorporate results from both aerosol Sampling experiments (the only relevant data available from space).

Sorek-Hamer, Meytar↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-16422-DND

The Nowcast of Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation for Aviation Safety (NAIRAS) is a prototype operational model for predicting aircraft radiation exposure from galactic and solar cosmic rays. NAIRAS predictions are currently streaming live from the project's public website, and the exposure rate nowcast is also available on the SpaceWx smartphone app for iPhone, IPad, and Android. Cosmic rays are the primary source of human exposure to high linear energy transfer radiation at aircraft altitudes, which increases the risk of cancer and other adverse health effects. Results from recent NAIRAS model updates and new data products are presented. In addition, current and ongoing radiation measurement campaigns and verification and validation efforts are discussed.

Christopher J Mertens↗
NASA NTRS2020

Development and Comparison of an Artificial Gravity Concept for Human Spaceflight

Artificial Gravity (AG) for a long-duration space journey has been theorized since the dawn of human spaceflight. The purpose of this project is to begin bringing those concepts into real-life. The goal and primary study for this project is to research and understand the physics behind making a rotating centrifuge and the human limitations that may contribute to the design. The research first started with finding the physics equations we can use to calculate the rotational speed required for a certain gravity or the required radius for the centrifuge structure, this equation is a(sub c) = v2/r = w(sub c)2 r, where v is linear velocity, r is the radius of the structure, and is the rotational speed. Next, it is important to understand AG may be worthwhile because of the negative health effects of microgravity. The research then leads to finding human limitations in a rotating structure. The main limitation of a human living in this habitat is the Coriolis effect, which causes discomfort and motion sickness in the subject inside the structure, this causes the three semicircular fluid canals in your head that sense balance and motion. Finally, we use that knowledge to best hypothesize and propose the radius size for the structure that would negate the Coriolis effect, and using that we can calculate the appropriate rotational speed to get the desired gravity level, for example: 1 g or 9.81 m/s2 of acceleration. Overall this research can encourage increase knowledge in understanding AG, the physics and human limitation in a rotating centrifuge on future NASA long-duration Missions and Goals. This research can be a reference to future design proposals for long-duration exploration missions and colonization of planets or moons.

Cody L Beard↗
NASA NTRS2020

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Association between AOD and PM over the California Central Valley

Many air pollution health effects studies rely on exposure estimates of particulate matter (PM) concentrations derived from remote sensing observations of aerosol optical depth (AOD). Simple but robust calibration models between AOD and PM are therefore important for generating reliable PM exposures. We conduct an in-depth examination of the spatial and temporal characteristics of the AOD-PM2.5 relationship by leveraging data from the Distributed Regional Aerosol Gridded Observation Networks (DRAGON) field campaign where eight NASA Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sites were co-located with EPA Air Quality System (AQS) monitoring sites in California’s Central Valley from November 2012 to April 2013. With this spatiotemporally rich data we found that linear calibration models (R(exp 2) = 0.35, RMSE = 10.38 µg/cu.m) were significantly improved when spatial (R(exp 2) = 0.45, RMSE = 9.54 µg/cu.m), temporal (R(exp 2) = 0.62, RMSE = 8.30 µg/cu.m), and spatiotemporal (R(exp 2) = 0.65, RMSE = 7.58 µg/cu.m) functions were included. As a use-case we applied the best spatiotemporal model to convert space-borne MultiAngle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) AOD observations to predict PM2.5 over the region (R(exp 2) = 0.60, RMSE = 8.42 µg/cu.m). Our results imply that simple AERONET AOD-PM2.5 calibrations are robust and can be reliably applied to space-borne AOD observations, resulting in PM2.5 prediction surfaces for use in downstream applications.

Meytar Sorek-Hamer↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Unveiling Urban Pollution Patterns from a Bird’s-Eye View

Low-earth orbiting satellites have been observing the global distribution of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) since the 1990s and these observations have been used to identify pollution source regions, temporal trends, and links to health effects and community disparities. However, historically, space-based NO2 observations have been coarse in spatial and temporal resolution resulting in challenges in data interpretation and product validation; therefore, NASA developed airborne capabilities and measurements strategies to observe ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) trace gases at high temporal and spatial resolutions to unveiling never before seen spatiotemporal patterns over major urban hubs during recent air quality field studies. In this talk, Dr. Judd will share the story of these field studies with datasets collected from NASA’s airborne spectrometers, GeoTASO and GCAS, and how they integrate in with other space- and ground-based instrumentation to illustrate the conceptual model of air quality episodes in coastal urban environments, contribute to satellite validation and regional chemical transport model evaluation. These imagers have the capability to observe UV-VIS absorbing species, typically NO2 and HCHO, at spatial resolutions as fine as 250 m when observing from the upper-troposphere. Flight strategies allowed for the collection of repeated raster samples over urban areas multiple times per flight day in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, capturing never before seen pictures of the diurnal evolution of emissions, chemistry, and meteorology associated with NO2 heterogeneity. These airborne efforts help local air quality management better understand their air quality challenges as well as benefit the larger air quality community in preparation for geostationary air quality observations and the development of the global air quality observing system.

Laura Judd↗
NASA NTRS2020

Ensemble-Based Deep Learning for Estimating PM2.5 over California with Multisource Big Data Including Wildfire Smoke

Estimating PM2.5 concentrations and their prediction uncertainties at a high spatiotemporal resolution is important for air pollution health effect studies. This is particularly challenging for California, which has high variability in natural (e.g. wildfires, dust) and anthropogenic emissions, meteorology, topography (e.g. desert surfaces, mountains, snow cover) and land use.

air quality↗
NASA NTRS2020

The Relationship Between MAIAC Smoke Plume Heights and Surface PM

Biomass burning is a source of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution, which adversely impacts human health. However, quantifying the health effects from biomass burning PM2.5 is difficult. Monitoring networks generally lack the spatial density needed to capture the heterogeneity of biomass burning smoke. Satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) can be used to fill spatial gaps but does not distinguish surface‐level aerosols. Plume height (PH) observations may provide constraints on the vertical distribution of smoke and its impact on surface concentrations. We assessed PH characteristics from Multi‐Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) and evaluated its correlation with colocated PM2.5 and AOD measurements. PH is generally highest over the western United States. The ratio PM2.5:AOD generally decreases with increasing PH:PBLH (planetary boundary layer height), showing that PH has the potential to refine surface PM2.5 estimates for collections of smoke events.

satellite retrieved smoke plume heights↗