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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 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

The effects of environmental conditions on eggshell thickness of two North American secondary cavity-nesting birds

Egg hatchability in birds is a critical component of individual reproductive success and is associated with eggshell integrity. Contaminants, such as DDT, can influence eggshell thickness and are known to cause population declines. Moisture content and temperature can also impact eggshell thickness, but the influence of environmental conditions on the natural variation in eggshell thickness in wild populations is not well understood. Our goal was to investigate the relationship between environmental conditions and eggshell thickness of Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) and Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) eggs from 1997 to 2013 on the Pajarito Plateau in northern New Mexico. We tested whether nesting elevation, temperature, precipitation, and drought conditions influenced eggshell thickness in these two secondary cavity-nesting species, while also looking at eggshell thickness over time. Over the 16 years, nonviable or abandoned eggs were collected, and the analyzed dataset included 330 bluebird eggs and 113 flycatcher eggs. There was a significant increase in eggshell thickness over time for both species. Flycatcher eggshells were correlated with higher temperatures, whereas bluebird eggshells were influenced by an interaction between temperature and drought severity. In drought conditions, bluebird eggshell thickness was positively correlated with temperature, whereas in wet conditions, eggshell thickness was negatively correlated with temperature. Thicker eggshells in drought conditions may be a way of reducing water loss from eggs, which occurs faster at higher temperatures. In the southwestern United States, frequent and severe drought, higher temperatures, and decreases in precipitation are all expected to continue. In conclusion, the structure of eggs will be important to consider regarding how species may or may not adapt to novel conditions or persist in new environments.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2007

New, Improved Bulk-microphysical Schemes for Studying Precipitation Processes in WRF: Comparisons with Other Schemes - Part 1

Advances in computing power allow atmospheric prediction models to be mn at progressively finer scales of resolution, using increasingly more sophisticated physical parameterizations and numerical methods. The representation of cloud microphysical processes is a key component of these models, over the past decade both research and operational numerical weather prediction models have started using more complex microphysical schemes that were originally developed for high-resolution cloud-resolving models (CRMs). A recent report to the United States Weather Research Program (USWRP) Science Steering Committee specifically calls for the replacement of implicit cumulus parameterization schemes with explicit bulk schemes in numerical weather prediction (NWP) as part of a community effort to improve quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPF). An improved Goddard bulk microphysical parameterization is implemented into a state-of the-art of next generation of Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. High-resolution model simulations are conducted to examine the impact of microphysical schemes on two different weather events (a midlatitude linear convective system and an Atllan"ic hurricane). The results suggest that microphysics has a major impact on the organization and precipitation processes associated with a summer midlatitude convective line system. The 31CE scheme with a cloud ice-snow-hail configuration led to a better agreement with observation in terms of simulated narrow convective line and rainfall intensity. This is because the 3ICE-hail scheme includes dense ice precipitating (hail) particle with very fast fall speed (over 10 m/s). For an Atlantic hurricane case, varying the microphysical schemes had no significant impact on the track forecast but did affect the intensity (important for air-sea interaction)

Tao, W.-K.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA GPM Status and Future Activities

The joint U.S.-Japan Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is approaching a decade of operations, and continues to pursue research, dataset production, and outreach related to precipitation. Key activities over the last year were the release of an improved “Version 07” of all GPM precipitation and latent heating products, boosting the orbit of the GPM Core Observatory (GPM CO) to 435 km, and improving quality control on precipitation retrievals from the GPM constellation of passive microwave satellites. This presentation summarizes key improvements to the GPM products and provides some examples of the changes between Versions 06 and 07 in algorithm performance. One important operational change that affected Version 07 is that the scanning strategy for the Ka-band radar channel changed in May 2018; all products that depend on Ka were revised to accommodate this change. For example, in Version 07 the Goddard Profiling (GPROF) algorithm has implemented improvements in regions where orographic enhancement and suppression take place and where the surface is snowy/icy, and again covers radiometers reaching back to 1987. The Combined Radar Radiometer Algorithm (CORRA) now incorporates modified drop-size distribution constraints that substantially reduce bias. Revisions to the Convective-Stratiform Heating (CSH) algorithm employ new radiative transfer retrievals as well as accounting for terrain in the vertical coordinates. Each algorithm was adjusted to ensure continuity for each product across the boundary in 2014 between the predecessor Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the GPM CO. The U.S. Science Team’s Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) was upgraded to account for distortions in the probability density function of regional precipitation rates due to weighted averaging in the Kalman filter used for “morphing” the passive microwave data. Maintaining the GPM CO orbital altitude in the the current very active solar cycle has been forcing the use of more fuel than planned and consequently shortening the forecasted life of the mission from the early 2030's to the late 2020's. It was considered vital to regain some of this lifetime to ensure overlap with the upcoming Atmosphere Observing System mission to provide crosscalibration of instruments. To accomplish this, the orbital altitude was raised from 400 to 435 km on 7-8 November 2023. Thereafter, the primary GPM CO algorithms had to be revised to account for the change in observing parameters. By meeting time this action should be complete. Recently, a screening algorithm based on auto-encoding was developed that uncovered 162 orbits (out of the many thousands of orbits across all years and all satellites) of passive microwave retrievals that had highly anomalous values. Removing these defective retrievals has improved the integrity of both the GPROF and IMERG records. However, the nature of the IMERG processing interacted sufficiently badly with the now-discovered anomalous orbits that it was necessary to completely reprocess the IMERG Final Run record, now labeled Version 07B. The presentation also considers major issues that require continued attention, including the use of machine learning algorithms and the operational challenge of swarms of “small”, perhaps short-lived satellites.

GPM↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA GPM Status and Future Activities

The joint U.S.-Japan Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is approaching a decade of operations, and continues to pursue research, dataset production, and outreach related to precipitation. One key activity over the last year was the release of an improved “Version 07” of all GPM precipitation and latent heating products. This talk summarizes key improvements to the GPM products for which NASA has lead responsibility and provides some examples of the changes between Versions 06 and 07 in algorithm performance. One important operational change that affected Version 07 is that the scanning strategy for the Ka-band radar channel changed in May 2018; all products that depend on Ka were revised to accommodate this change. For example, in Version 07 the Goddard Profiling (GPROF) algorithm has implemented improvements in regions where orographic enhancement and suppression take place and where the surface is snowy/icy, and again covers radiometers reaching back to 1987. The Combined Radar Radiometer Algorithm (CORRA) now incorporates modified drop-size distribution constraints that substantially reduce bias. Revisions to the Convective-Stratiform Heating (CSH) algorithm employ new radiative transfer retrievals as well as accounting for terrain in the vertical coordinates. Each algorithm was adjusted to ensure continuity for each product across the boundary in 2014 between the predecessor Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the GPM Core Observatory. The U.S. Science Team’s Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) was upgraded to account for distortions in the probability density function of regional precipitation rates due to weighted averaging in the Kalman filter used for “morphing” the passive microwave data. The talk will conclude by considering major issues that require continued attention, including the use of machine learning algorithms, the operational challenge of swarms of “small”, perhaps short-lived satellites, and estimates of the remaining lifespan of the Core Observatory.

Global Precipitation Measuremen↗
NASA NTRS2002

Overview of Terra

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by which scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. During the last couple of years, seven EOS science missions were launched, representing observations of (i) total solar irradiance, (ii) Earth radiation budget, (iii) land cover & land use change, (iv) ocean processes (vector wind, sea surface temperature, ocean topography, and ocean color), (v) atmospheric processes (aerosol and cloud properties, water vapor, and temperature and moisture profiles), (v) tropospheric chemistry, (vi) sea ice concentration, and (viii) precipitation. In succeeding years many more satellites will be launched that will contribute immeasurably to our understanding of the Earth's environment. In this lecture I will describe how scientists are using NASA's Earth science data to examine land use and natural hazards, environmental air quality, including dust storms over the world's deserts, cloud and radiation properties, sea surface temperature, and tropospheric chemistry. This lecture will describe the Terra satellite, launched in December 1999 and still operating, and each of the five sensors onboard the spacecraft. This overview will highlight the goals and objectives of this mission, and describe the contributions and unique datasets provided by each sensor. This lecture will form the background for an extensive weeklong course on Terra and all the algorithms that have been developed and implemented to process the data from this spacecraft. This lecture will include a description of the Terra orbit, launch, data communication with the spacecraft, and data processing and archival of the data.

King, Michael D.↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA GES DISC support of CO2 Data from OCO-2, ACOS, and AIRS

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Centers (GES DISC) is the data center assigned to archive and distribute current AIRS, ACOS data and data from the upcoming OCO-2 mission. The GES DISC archives and supports data containing information on CO2 as well as other atmospheric composition, atmospheric dynamics, modeling and precipitation. Along with the data stewardship, an important mission of GES DISC is to facilitate access to and enhance the usability of data as well as to broaden the user base. GES DISC strives to promote the awareness of science content and novelty of the data by working with Science Team members and releasing news articles as appropriate. Analysis of events that are of interest to the general public, and that help in understanding the goals of NASA Earth Observing missions, have been among most popular practices.Users have unrestricted access to a user-friendly search interface, Mirador, that allows temporal, spatial, keyword and event searches, as well as an ontology-driven drill down. Variable subsetting, format conversion, quality screening, and quick browse, are among the services available in Mirador. The majority of the GES DISC data are also accessible through OPeNDAP (Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol) and WMS (Web Map Service). These services add more options for specialized subsetting, format conversion, image viewing and contributing to data interoperability.

Wei, Jennifer C↗
NASA NTRS2000

Channel Selection for the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI)

The GOES-R (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R) Imager will be the fourth generation imaging radiometer flown in 40 years that observes the western hemisphere from geosynchronous orbit. The Imager is an international resource for information about unpredictable short-term mesoscale phenomena such as severe storms, precipitation, clouds and fog, fires and volcanoes. As such, it must provide: (1) continuity of service, (2) valuable new capabilities, and (3) synergy with the companion fleet of imaging radiometers. This combination of requirements lead to a suite of channels evolved from the generations of LEO (low Earth orbit) and GEO- (geosynchronous Earth orbit) and -sounders. To maximize the science and applications payoff from its unique viewpoint, the next generation GOES Imager should concentrate upon regional measurements of the chaotic atmospheric phenomena involving water and the diurnal cycle -- energy potential, moisture transport, phase changes, precipitation, and cloud climatology.

Chesters, Dennis↗
DOE OSTI2025

Predicting the Evolution of Shallow Cumulus Clouds With a Lotka‐Volterra Like Model

Abstract In numerical weather prediction and climate models, boundary‐layer clouds are controlled by a wide range of subgrid‐scale processes. However, understanding the nature of these processes and their role in the evolution of the cloud size distribution as a whole has been elusive. To address this issue, we adopt a novel empirical framework from the field of population dynamics to model the evolution of cloud size statistics by using the shallow cumulus properties obtained from a large‐eddy simulation (LES). Our approach involves representing the cloud size distribution and the total cloud area using a revised Lotka‐Volterra model and ridge linear model, respectively. The physical interpretation of the total cloud area and coefficients obtained from the optimization of the models reveals three stages probably interpreted by dominant processes: the formation of new clouds, the growth of single clouds, and a steady state with organized transitions involving the growth and decay of multiple clouds. Furthermore, we showcase the potential of this framework to serve as a component of scale‐aware parameterizations of shallow‐convective clouds in atmospheric models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Microbial community data from throughfall exclusion experiment: Metadata, SI, community composition, LefSe, and FunGuilR data tables from PARCHED Panama tropical forest soils, 2024-2025

Soil contains more carbon (C) than terrestrial vegetation and the atmosphere combined, with some of the largest terrestrial C stocks in tropical rainforests. Soil microbes decompose organic matter, playing a vital role in the storage or loss of soil C. With climate change, drought conditions are predicted to increase in many tropical regions, including both chronic drying and extended drought, potentially influencing these processes. This project explored the effects of chronic and seasonal drying on soil microbial communities across four distinct tropical forests in a long-term drying experiment. We investigated the effects of a chronic drying manipulation on soil microbial community abundance and variation across different forests and seasons. We also compared findings with previously published data from these forests after short-term drying. This project used soils from a long-term drying experiment established in 2018 across four seasonal lowland forests in Panama. Soils were collected from 0 – 10 cm depths during three seasonal periods in control and drying plots in 2024 and 2025 from a total of 32 plots (n = 4 per forest per treatment). The forests varied in baseline rainfall and soil fertility. We calculated alpha and beta diversity indices and compared taxonomic community composition. We found significant biogeographic variation in microbial diversity and taxonomy, with significant differences across the forests and significant effects of the drying treatment. Metadata and sample IDs are within Metadata_16S.csv and Metadata_ITS.csv. Relative abundance tables of every sample at every season are shown in the Excel workbooks 16S Relative Abundance.xlsx and ITS Relative Abundance.xlsx. They are then also shown in CSV files by each taxonomic level. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LefSe) tables are shown for the full 16S and ITS datasets (n = 96), subsets for every site at every season (n = 8), and then for the forests with each plot merged by season (n = 8). FunGuildR data table of ITS data is uploaded.

Bacteria↗
NASA NTRS1985

Laser radar observation of the polar stratospheric aerosol layer

The polar stratosphere has been speculated to be an active sink region of various stratospheric materials; ozone, water vapor, NOX, aerosol particles and so on, but this process is not theoretically and/or observationally made clear. The observation of the polar stratospheric aerosol layer using laser radar certainly contributes to the study of the global transport of these stratospheric minor constituents. In addition to this, from the viewpoint of aerosol science, there may be many interesting phenomena which cannot be found in the stratosphere at mid and low latitudes; the effect of precipitation of high energy molecules and atoms, of very cold winter stratosphere, of very cold mesopause in summer. Laser radar observation is one of the main activities of the Antarctic Middle Atmosphere (AMA) project at Syowa Station (69.00 deg S, 39.35 deg E), Antarctica since May 1983. Laser radar measurement at Syowa Station is discussed in detail.

Iwasaka, Y.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Continuation of the NVAP Global Water Vapor Data Sets for Pathfinder Science Analysis

This annual report covers August 2000 - August 2001 under NASA contract NASW-0032, entitled "Continuation of the NVAP (NASA's Water Vapor Project) Global Water Vapor Data Sets for Pathfinder Science Analysis". NASA has created a list of Earth Science Research Questions which are outlined by Asrar, et al. Particularly relevant to NVAP are the following questions: (a) How are global precipitation, evaporation, and the cycling of water changing? (b) What trends in atmospheric constituents and solar radiation are driving global climate? (c) How well can long-term climatic trends be assessed or predicted? Water vapor is a key greenhouse gas, and an understanding of its behavior is essential in global climate studies. Therefore, NVAP plays a key role in addressing the above climate questions by creating a long-term global water vapor dataset and by updating the dataset with recent advances in satellite instrumentation. The NVAP dataset produced from 1988-1998 has found wide use in the scientific community. Studies of interannual variability are particularly important. A recent paper by Simpson, et al. that examined the NVAP dataset in detail has shown that its relative accuracy is sufficient for the variability studies that contribute toward meeting NASA's goals. In the past year, we have made steady progress towards continuing production of this high-quality dataset as well as performing our own investigations of the data. This report summarizes the past year's work on production of the NVAP dataset and presents results of analyses we have performed in the past year.

VonderHaar, Thomas H.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Intense formation of secondary ultrafine particles from Amazonian vegetation fires and their invigoration of deep clouds and precipitation

New particle formation (NPF) in fire smoke is thought to be unlikely due to large condensation and coagulation sinks that scavenge molecular clusters. We analyze aircraft measurements over the Amazon and find that fires significantly enhance NPF and ultrafine particle (UFP < 50 nm diameter) numbers compared to background conditions, contrary to previous understanding. We identify that the nucleation of dimethylamine with sulfuric acid, which is aided by the formation of extremely low volatility organics in biomass-burning smoke, can overcome the large condensation and coagulation sinks and explain aircraft observations. We show that freshly formed clusters rapidly grow to UFP sizes through biomass-burning secondary organic aerosol formation, leading to a 10-fold increase in UFP number concentrations. Here, we find a contrasting effect of UFPs on deep convective clouds compared to the larger particles from primary emissions for the case investigated here. UFPs intensify the deep convective clouds and precipitation due to increased condensational heating, while larger particles delay and reduce precipitation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2017

An Integrated Examination of AMSR2 Products over Ocean

Integrated processing and analysis are presented for oceanic retrievals of precipitation, sea ice concentration, columnar water vapor and cloud water, sea surface temperature, and near surface wind from the advanced microwave scanning radiometer-2 (AMSR2) sensor. By developing a common algorithmic framework and permitting iterative interaction between historically separate science algorithms, ambiguous and contradictory retrieval results are minimized. The integration also serves to improve each algorithm individually, decreasing reliance on ancillary datasets. Case studies are presented that exemplify both ongoing challenges for these retrievals and potential research uses of such an integrated satellite product. Two cases are presented each for precipitation at high latitudes and marginal sea ice detection, with analysis supplemented by satellite data from CloudSat profiles and Himawari-8 imagery. Detection and retrieval of snowfall remains a challenge, while light rainfall detection can be aided by a variational algorithm. Sea ice concentrations below 20% cause disagreements, but the algorithms otherwise agree well on the sea ice edge. Potential mitigation strategies for ambiguous areas of light rainfall and marginal sea ice are discussed. The analysis demonstrates potential avenues for future algorithm development, but also some physical limitations of remote sensing with the AMSR2 frequencies.

variational methods↗