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At least 271 records · Page 15

Accelerated Simulation of Air Pollution Using NVIDIA RAPIDS

Atmospheric chemistry models are a central tool to study and forecast the impact of air pollution on the environment, vegetation, and human health. However, the numerical simulation of chemical kinetics is computationally expensive due to the stiffness of the system of ordinary differential equations that describes atmospheric chemistry. Here we present an alternative approach to the computation of atmospheric chemistry based on machine learning. Our training data set is produced using the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model with GEOS-Chem chemistry, run on the NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) Discover supercomputing cluster on 384 Intel Xeon Haswell cores. This model spends more than 50% of total run time on solving atmospheric chemistry. The data set contains as input features the air pollution concentrations before solving the differential equations, together with some key physical parameters such as temperature and sun intensity. As target variables we define the air pollution concentrations after solving the differential equations. Using Dask-cuDF and Dask-XGBoost on the NVIDIA RAPIDS platform on 8 Tesla V100 GPUs, we generate from this training set gradient boosted decision tree models that can reproduce the simulation of chemical kinetics. We do this on the NCCS Advanced Data Analytics Platform (ADAPT) science cloud environment. Our application takes full advantage of recent advances in Dask-XGBoost, such as multi-node and multi-GPU scaling for distributed training with large data sets. The increase in training data size enabled by this is critical to capture the full range of chemical environments encountered across the globe and all annual seasons.The boosted tree models offer good predictability and show many of the features of the full chemistry reference simulation. Further improvements can be achieved through mass balance considerations and by accounting for error correlations. We incorporate the boosted tree models into the GEOS reference model using XGBoost's C API. This enables a seamless integration of the GPU trained models into GEOS-Chem, which is written in Fortran and optimized for use in a massively parallel CPU environment. We show the benefits of this approach and discuss the potential speedup of this machine learning accelerated atmospheric chemistry model.

Keller, Christoph A.↗

Online Visualization and Analysis of NASA Satellite-Based Global and Regional Precipitation Products Through Giovanni

Observational data are essential for Earth science research and applications. Traditional ground-based observations suffer from many limitations (e.g. costly deployment). As a result, data are often sparse and inconsistent, especially over vast oceans that cover nearly 71% of the Earth's surface, and for remote continents. Precipitation is one of the important physical parameters in the global hydrological cycle and other disciplines. Each year, severe floods and droughts happen in different parts of the world and cause significant damage to the economy, as well as human casualties (e.g. Hurricane Katrina, the Dust Bowl). Accurate and timely precipitation observations and predictions are important for research and applications. However, ground-based precipitation observations are quite limited, especially in remote and mountainous regions. Since the satellite era began, satellite-based precipitation products have gained popularity in Earth science research, applications, and education. Accessing satellite products can be a daunting task to many users, especially those who do not have prior experience or knowledge with satellite data. Recognizing this obstacle, the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences and Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), home to data archives for the NASA-JAXA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), has developed data services including an online visualization and analysis tool, Giovanni (the Geospatial Interactive Online Visualization ANd aNalysis Infrastructure), enabling users at different levels to access, explore, and evaluate NASA satellite-based data products without downloading either data and software, or requiring coding. Currently, global and regional precipitation products from different satellite missions (TRMM, GPM) and projects (e.g. the Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2), and the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS)), ranging from half-hourly to monthly temporal resolution, are available in Giovanni. There are over 1900 variables in Giovanni, covering measurements in precipitation, hydrology, atmospheric dynamics, atmospheric chemistry, etc. In this poster presentation, we will provide a live demonstration of Giovanni and its latest development, including precipitation-related variables, and new basic features such as polar projections. The session will also provide a Q&A opportunity for attendees.

Giovanni↗

Choosing Meteorological Input for the Global Modeling Initiative Assessment of High Speed Aircraft

The Global Modeling Initiative (GMI) science team is developing a three dimensional chemistry and transport model (CTM) to be used in assessment of the atmospheric effects of aviation. Requirements are that this model be documented, be validated against observations, use a realistic atmospheric circulation, and contain numerical transport and photochemical modules representing atmospheric processes. The model must also retain computational efficiency to be tractable to use for multiple scenarios and sensitivity studies. To meet these requirements, a facility model concept was developed in which the different components of the CTM are evaluated separately. The first use of the GMI model will be to evaluate the impact of the exhaust of supersonic aircraft on the stratosphere. The assessment calculations will depend strongly on the wind and temperature fields used by the CTM. Three meteorological data sets for the stratosphere are available to GMI: the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model (CCM2), the Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System (GEOS DAS), and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies general circulation model (GISS). Objective criteria were established by the GMI team to identify the data set which provides the best representation of the stratosphere. Simulations of gases with simple chemical control were chosen to test various aspects of model transport. The three meteorological data sets were evaluated and graded based on their ability to simulate these aspects of stratospheric measurements. This paper describes the criteria used in grading the meteorological fields. The meteorological data set which has the highest score and therefore was selected for GMI is CCM2. This type of objective model evaluation establishes a physical basis for interpretation of differences between models and observations. Further, the method provides a quantitative basis for defining model errors, for discriminating between different models, and for ready re-evaluation of improved models. These in turn will lead to a higher level of confidence in assessment calculations.

Douglas, A. R.↗

Choosing Meteorological Input for the Global Modeling Initiative Assessment of High Speed Aircraft

The Global Modeling Initiative (GMI) science team is developing a three dimensional chemistry and transport model (CTM) to be used in assessment of the atmospheric effects of aviation. Requirements are that this model be documented be validated against observations, use a realistic atmospheric circulation, and contain numerical transport and photochemical modules representing atmospheric processes. The model must also retain computational efficiency to be tractable to use for multiple scenarios and sensitivity studies. To meet these requirements, a facility model concept was developed in which the different components of the CTM are evaluated separately. The first use of the GMI model will be to evaluate the impact of the exhaust of supersonic aircraft on the stratosphere. The assessment calculations will depend strongly on the wind and temperature fields used by the CTM. Three meteorological data sets for the stratosphere are available to GMI: the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model (CCM2), the Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System (GEOS DAS), and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies general circulation model (GISS). Objective criteria were established by the GMI team to identify the data set which provides the best representation of the stratosphere. Simulations of gases with simple chemical control were chosen to test various aspects of model transport. The three meteorological data sets were evaluated and graded based on their ability to simulate these aspects of stratospheric measurements. This paper describes the criteria used in grading the meteorological fields. The meteorological data set which has the highest score and therefore was selected for GMI is CCM2. This type of objective model evaluation establishes a physical basis for interpretation of differences between models and observations. Further, the method provides a quantitative basis for defining model errors, for discriminating between different models, and for ready re-evaluation of improved models. These in turn will lead to a higher level of confidence in assessment calculations.

Douglass, A. R.↗

Data for Myers-Pigg et al. (2026), "Short-term coastal forest responses to a hurricane-scale freshwater and saltwater flooding experiment"

Coastal upland forests are exposed to intensifying precipitation regimes and sea level rise, increasing tree mortality and transforming these coastal forests into wetland ecosystems. Despite these well-known risks, the differing degrees to which hydrological, biogeochemical, and biological components of upland forests respond to novel salinity exposure is relatively unknown. The Terrestrial Ecosystem Manipulation to Probe the Effects of Storm Treatments (TEMPEST) experiment decouples two distinct disturbances associated with hydrological extremes: (1) flooding from heavy precipitation and (2) exposure to saline conditions from storm surge. This dataset includes data reported in Myers-Pigg et al. (2025), which analyzed data from the first TEMPEST flooding treatment in 2022. This includes: - Colored dissolved organic matter in porewaters - Soil temperature and oxygen - Groundwater temperature and chemistry - Dissolved organic carbon concentrations in porewaters - Soil-to-atmosphere CH4 and CO2 fluxes - Soil temperature, water content, and electrical conductivity - Root-influenced CH4 and CO2 flux - Tree sap flow velocity - The R analytical code and documentation about the computational environmental in which it was run (the "sessionInfo.txt" file) All data files are plain-text comma separated value (CSV) and no special software is required to read them.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Ablator Response Model Development: From Flight Data Back to Fundamental Experiments

The successful Mars atmospheric entry by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL-Curiosity) combined with the success of the Earth atmospheric entry by the Stardust capsule have established PICA as a major Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) material. We expect that this class of materials will be on the short list selected by NASA for any atmospheric entry missions and that it will be the lead of that list of materials in any planning, feasibility studies or flight readiness studies. In addition to NASAs successes, the Dragon capsule, the successful commercial space vehicle built by SpaceX, uses PICA-X, while the European Space Agency is considering ASTERM for its exploration missions that involve atmospheric entries, both of these materials are of the same family as PICA. In the talk, a high-fidelity model will be detailed and discussed. The model tracks the chemical composition of the gases produced during pyrolysis. As in the conventional models, it uses equilibrium chemistry to determine the recession rate at high temperatures but switches to in-volume finite-rate ablation for lower temperatures. It also tracks the time evolution of the porosity of the material. Progress in implementing this high-fidelity model in a code will be presented. In addition, a set of basic experimental data being supported for model validation will be summarized. The validation process for the model development will be discussed. Preliminary results will be presented for a case where detailed pyrolysis product chemistry is computed. Finally, a wish list for a set of validation experiments will be outlined and discussed.

Mansour, Nagi N.↗

Dataset for Cruz-O'Byrne et al (2026): "Divergent biogeochemical responses in upland coastal forest soils to repeated flooding and shifts in water chemistry"

Hydrologic disturbances from accelerated sea-level rise and the increasing frequency and intensity of storms and tidal flooding are altering biogeochemical processes in upland coastal forests, transforming these ecosystems into wetlands. However, the initial effects of flooding on belowground biogeochemistry and the mechanisms driving greenhouse gas dynamics and soil organic matter stability during the early stages of this transition remain poorly understood. This dataset presents the results of a mesocosm experiment conducted in a controlled, highly instrumented laboratory environment, in which freshwater and brackish water pulses were applied to intact soil monoliths from a temperate upland coastal forest to examine how floodwater chemistry influences soil biogeochemistry and organo-mineral interactions. All data files are plain-text CSV (comma-separated value), and no special software is required to read them. Details about the content of each file are available in the document “Dataset_readme”. The dataset consists of the following data: • rcruzobyrne_moisture: Soil volumetric water content (VWC) • rcruzobyrne_GHG: Headspace greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration and fluxes • rcruzobyrne_methane_isotopes: Headspace methane isotope signature • rcruzobyrne_porewater: Porewater chemistry • rcruzobyrne_CDOM: Porewater colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) • rcruzobyrne_FTIR: Soil Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy Details of the experimental setup, data collection, and data analysis are provided in the manuscript by Cruz-O’Byrne et al (2026) Divergent biogeochemical responses in upland coastal forest soils to repeated flooding and shifts in water chemistry. Biogeochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-026-01340-0

EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > GREENHOUSE GAS↗

Global Distribution and Trends of Tropospheric Ozone: An Observation-Based Review

Tropospheric ozone plays a major role in Earth's atmospheric chemistry processes and also acts as an air pollutant and greenhouse gas. Due to its short lifetime, and dependence on sunlight and precursor emissions from natural and anthropogenic sources, tropospheric ozone's abundance is highly variable in space and time on seasonal, interannual and decadal time-scales. Recent, and sometimes rapid, changes in observed ozone mixing ratios and ozone precursor emissions inspired us to produce this up-to-date overview of tropospheric ozone's global distribution and trends. Much of the text is a synthesis of in situ and remotely sensed ozone observations reported in the peer-reviewed literature, but we also include some new and extended analyses using well-known and referenced datasets to draw connections between ozone trends and distributions in different regions of the world. In addition, we provide a brief evaluation of the accuracy of rural or remote surface ozone trends calculated by three state-of-the-science chemistry-climate models, the tools used by scientists to fill the gaps in our knowledge of global tropospheric ozone distribution and trends.

Mixing ratios↗

An Update on Global Satellite-Based Precipitation Products and Services at NASA GES DISC

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) is home to major NASA satellite precipitation measurement missions including the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) as well as other NASA projects. Accurate and timely available global and regional precipitation products play an important role in research and applications around the world. The GES DISC provides near-real-time, near-global precipitation products (e.g.IMERG) to support a wide variety of interdisciplinary research and operational activities including flood modeling, landslides, crop monitoring and assessment, vector-borne diseases, etc. Climate data record products (e.g.GPCP3) are essential for climate research, assessment, model evaluation and applications. To facilitate data access and exploration, the GES DISC has developed data services such asGiovanni, an online visualization and analysis tool for easy access to over 2000 satellite- and model-based variables. Established in the mid 1980s, the GES DISC also distributes data in other disciplines including hydrology, atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric dynamics, etc. In this presentation, we will present an update on global precipitation products and data services including the new IMERG V06B suite, the latest version of GPCP (Version 3) and value-added data subsetting services (L34RS, L2S).

Liu, Zhong↗

Earth System science

Recent research has solidified a view of the Earth as a global-scale interactive system with complex chemical, physical, biological and dynamical processes that link the ocean, atmosphere, land (soils, ice, snow) and marine and terrestrial living organisms. These processes both within and between the major parts of the system help determine global and regional climate and control the biogeochemical and hydrologic cycles essential to life. The study of the Earth System requires measurements ranging from the scales of the smallest processes to the global scale. An ambitious satellite observational program, the Earth Observing System (EOS), carried out along with the complementary and ongoing World Climate Research Program (WCRP) and International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) represents a major international effort to understand this System and predict its future changes. The complex and intriguing nature of the Earth System is discussed along with a number of closely coupled processes occurring within it. These are: clouds, precipitation and vegetation; ocean circulation, sea-surface temperature and phytoplankton; coupled oceanic and atmospheric circulation (the Southern Oscillation); biological activity, atmospheric chemistry and climate; and biological emissions and the ozone layer.

Prinn, R. G.↗

A co-opted steroid synthesis gene, maintained in sorghum but not maize, is associated with a divergence in leaf wax chemistry

Significance Virtually all above-ground plant surfaces, such as leaf and stem exteriors, are covered in a cuticle: a wax-infused polyester. This waxy biocomposite is the largest interface between Earth’s biosphere and atmosphere. Its chemical composition is not only highly tuned to mediate nonstomatal water loss, but it also self-assembles to produce superhydrophobic surfaces, protects against UV radiation, and contains bioactive compounds that help resist microbial attack. Developing fundamental knowledge of waxy biocomposites, particularly those on crop species, is a prerequisite for an understanding of their structure–function relationships. Here, we uncover a likely genetic basis for the presence and absence, respectively, of triterpenoids in the leaf waxes of sorghum and maize—compounds previously associated with creating heat-tolerant cuticular water barriers.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Characterizing and quantifying uncertainty in projections of climate change impacts on air quality

Climate change can aggravate air pollution, with important public health and environmental consequences. While major sources of uncertainty in climate change projections - greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions scenario, model response, and internal variability - have been investigated extensively, their propagation to estimates of air quality impacts has not been systematically assessed. Here, we compare these uncertainties using a coupled modeling framework that includes a human activity model, an Earth system model of intermediate complexity, and a global atmospheric chemistry model. Uncertainties in projections of U.S. air quality under 21st century climate change are quantified based on a climate-chemistry ensemble that includes multiple initializations, representations of climate sensitivity, and climate policy scenarios, under constant air pollution emissions. We find that climate-related uncertainties are comparable at mid-century, making it difficult to distinguish the impact of variations in GHG emissions on ozone and particulate matter pollution. While GHG emissions scenario eventually becomes the dominant uncertainty based on the scenarios considered, all sources of uncertainty are significant through the end of the century. The results provide insights into intrinsically different uncertainties in projections of air pollution impacts and the potential for large ensembles to better capture them.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The Amazon Water Cycle: Perspectives from Water Budget Closure and Ocean Salinity

Global and regional water cycle includes precipitation, water vapor divergence, and change of column water vapor in the atmosphere, and land surface evapotranspiration, terrestrial water storage change, and river discharge, which is linked to ocean salinity near the river mouth. The water cycle is a crucial component of the Earth system, and numerous studies have addressed its individual components (e.g., precipitation). Here we assess, for the first time, if remote sensing and reanalysis datasets can accurately and self-consistently portray the Amazon water cycle. This is further assisted with satellite ocean salinity measurements near the mouth of the Amazon River. The widely used practice of taking the mean of an ensemble of datasets to represent water cycle components (e.g., precipitation) can produce large biases in water cycle closure. Additionally, closure is achieved with only a small subset of data combinations (e.g., ERA5 precipitation and evapotranspiration plus GRACE satellite terrestrial water storage), which rules out the lower precipitation and higher evapotranspiration estimates, providing valuable constraints on assessments of precipitation, evapotranspiration, and their ratio. The common approach of using the Óbidos stream gauge (located hundreds of kilometers from the river mouth) multiplied by a constant (1.25) to represent the entire Amazon discharge is found to misrepresent the seasonal cycle, and this can affect the apparent influence of Amazon discharge on tropical Atlantic salinity.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

The Present Habitability Potential of Gale Crater: What We Have Learned So Far From Mars Science Laboratory

The Mars Science Laboratory mission has comprehensively interrogated the surface environment of Mars as it explores Gale Crater. Both chemical and physical attributes of the present environment have been measured over the course of the mission, enabling us to compare the present state of the martian surface with the environmental requirements of prokaryotic microbes. While this approach does not exclude the possibility of martian life that may have evolved to adapt to the present conditions, it is advantageous in that it allows us to evaluate environmental requirements of known life and also provide insight into the likelihood of forward contamination by Earth organisms with the comparison of their environmental requirements with the measured attributes of the environment at Gale Crater. We have already modeled a paleoenvironment with high habitability potential (HP) based upon chemistry, mineralogy and other geological evidence such as sedimentary structures and larger scale geomorphology [1]. In this report, we turn our attention to the present HP of the Yellowknife Bay area, including the importance of the physical environmental metrics such as atmospheric pressure, air and ground temperature, ionizing radiation, wind speed and direction, slope, etc.

Conrad, P. G.↗

Climate, Variability, and Climate Sensitivity of “Middle Atmosphere” Chemistry Configurations of the Community Earth System Model Version 2, Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model Version 6 (CESM2(WACCM6))

Abstract Simulating whole atmosphere dynamics, chemistry, and physics is computationally expensive. It can require high vertical resolution throughout the middle and upper atmosphere, as well as a comprehensive chemistry and aerosol scheme coupled to radiation physics. An unintentional outcome of the development of one of the most sophisticated and hence computationally expensive model configurations is that it often excludes a broad community of users with limited computational resources. Here, we analyze two configurations of the Community Earth System Model Version 2, Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model Version 6 (CESM2(WACCM6)) with simplified “middle atmosphere” chemistry at nominal 1 and 2° horizontal resolutions. Using observations, a reanalysis, and direct model comparisons, we find that these configurations generally reproduce the climate, variability, and climate sensitivity of the 1° nominal horizontal resolution configuration with comprehensive chemistry. While the background stratospheric aerosol optical depth is elevated in the middle atmosphere configurations as compared to the comprehensive chemistry configuration, it is comparable among all configurations during volcanic eruptions. For any purposes other than those needing an accurate representation of tropospheric organic chemistry and secondary organic aerosols, these simplified chemistry configurations deliver reliable simulations of the whole atmosphere that require 35% and 86% fewer computational resources at nominal 1 and 2° horizontal resolution, respectively.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The case for planetary sample return missions. 2. History of Mars

Principal science goals for exploration of Mars are to establish the chemical, isotopic, and physical state of Martian material, the nature of major surface-forming processes and their time scales, and the past and present biological potential of the planet. Many of those goals can only be met by detailed analyses of atmospheric gases and carefully selected samples of fresh rocks, weathered rocks, soils, sediments, and ices. The high-fidelity mineral separations, complex chemical treatments, and ultrasensitive instrument systems required for key measurements, as well as the need to adapt analytical strategies to unanticipated results, point to Earth-based laboratory analyses on returned Martian samples as the best means for meeting the stated objectives.

NASA Center ARC↗

Interactions between land use, fires, and dust as drivers of global climate change (Final Technical Report)

This award to UC Irvine and Cornell University led to the publication of 18 papers, three of which are highly cited. According to ISI Web of Science, the body of work from this grant has been cited over 476 times by May 2025. Several additional publications remain in review. This grant contributed to several significant science advances, including an improved understanding of the influence of fire aerosols on global photosynthesis (Xu et al., 2021), dust-driven teleconnections between Africa and South America (Li et al., 2021), the role of fire aerosols in triggering phytoplankton blooms in the Arctic (Ardyna et al., 2022), and wildfire responses to heat waves (Li et al., in review). Several other studies are being written up for publication, and will acknowledge funding support. These efforts include an analysis in which the magnitude of tropical fire emissions from land use change is constrained by comparing E3SMv3 simulations with atmospheric observations. This work has revealed that carbon cycle model estimates of land use change may considerably overestimate the global tropical deforestation flux. The project also contributed to several technical advances, including a new process-based and scale-aware desert dust emission scheme for global climate models (Leung et al., 2023), an improved representation of dust and its influence on radiation in E3SM (Feng et al., 2022), an improved representation of the dust parameterization in the Community Earth System Model (Li et al., 2022), and an improved coupling of wildfires with atmospheric chemistry in E3SM v3.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Interesting Scientific Questions Regarding Interactions in the Gas-aerosol-cloud System

The growth of human population and their use of land, food and energy resources affect the Earth's atmosphere, biosphere and oceans in a complex manner. Many important questions in earth sciences today deal with issues regarding the impact of human activities on our immediate and future environment, ranging in scope from local (i.e. air pollution) to global (i.e. global warming) scale problems. Because the mass of the Earth's atmosphere is negligible compare to that found in the oceans and the biosphere, the atmosphere can respond quickly to natural and/or manmade perturbations. For example, seasonal 'ozone hole' formation in the Antarctic is a result of manmade CFC emissions in just the last 40 years. Also, the observed rise in global temperatures (known as global warming) is linked to a rapid increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas concentrations (emitted primarily by combustion processes) over the last century. The Earth's atmosphere is composed of a mixture of gases, aerosol and cloud particles. Natural and anthropogenic emissions of gases and aerosols affect the composition of the Earth's atmosphere. Changes in the chemical and physical makeup of the atmosphere can influence how the Earth will interact with the incoming solar radiation and the outgoing infrared radiation and vise versa. While, some perturbations are short-lived, others are long-lived and can affect the Earth's global climate and chemistry in many decades to come, In order to be able to separate the natural effects from anthropogenic ones, it is essential that we understand the basic physics and chemistry of interactions in the gas-aerosol-cloud system in the Earth's atmosphere. The important physics and chemistry that takes place in the coupled gas-aerosol-cloud system as it relates to aircraft observations are discussed.

Tabazadeh, Azadeh↗