Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “concentration”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Imprint of Anthropogenic Sources and Soil Removal on the Surface Concentration of H2 in the Contiguous US

Hydrogen (H2) is experiencing renewed interest throughout the world as a low carbon fuel alternative or complement to fossil fuels. Significant uncertainties remain regarding the environmental impact of increasing H2 usage, in part due to gaps in our understanding of the H2 atmospheric budget, including the H2 release from industrial activities and the H2 soil removal, the most important sink of H2. This study focuses on H2 dry air mole fractions measured by the NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory in discrete ambient air samples collected every few days at sites located in the contiguous United States between 2010 and 2022. We take advantage of the long-term observations from this network to study the regional distribution of H2 sources using the potential source contribution function (PSCF). We find that H2 PSCF is consistent with a large anthropogenic source of atmospheric H2 from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuel. However, episodic air masses with high H2 dry air mole fractions (>700 ppb) recorded at some sampling locations in the Western and Southeastern US are not associated with elevated CO, suggesting significant noncombustion anthropogenic or geological sources of H2. Air masses depleted in H2 are recorded in rural or remote continental sites. Our analysis of observations from a tall tower in NE Colorado suggests that the degree of H2 depletion not only reflects differences in soil exposure but also the regional inhibition of the soil sink under arid conditions.

Paulot, Fabien↗
NASA NTRS2002

Refractive Secondary Solar Concentrator Demonstrated High-Temperature Operation

Space applications that utilize solar thermal energy--such as electric power conversion systems, thermal propulsion systems, and furnaces--require highly efficient solar concentration systems. The NASA Glenn Research Center is developing the refractive secondary concentrator, which uses refraction and total internal reflection to efficiently concentrate and direct solar energy. When used in combination with advanced lightweight primary concentrators, such as inflatable thin films, the refractive secondary concentrator enables very high system concentration ratios and very high temperatures. Last year, Glenn successfully demonstrated a secondary concentrator throughput efficiency of 87 percent, with a projected efficiency of 93 percent using an antireflective coating. Building on this achievement, Glenn recently successfully demonstrated high-temperature operation of the secondary concentrator when it was used to heat a rhenium receiver to 2330 F. The high-temperature demonstration of the concentrator was conducted in Glenn's 68-ft long Tank 6 thermal vacuum facility equipped with a solar simulator. The facility has a rigid panel primary concentrator that was used to concentrate the light from the solar simulator onto the refractive secondary concentrator. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center provided a rhenium cavity, part of a solar thermal propulsion engine, to serve as the high-temperature receiver. The prototype refractive secondary concentrator, measuring 3.5 in. in diameter and 11.2 in. long, is made of single-crystal sapphire. A water-cooled splash shield absorbs spillage light outside of the 3.5-in. concentrator aperture. Multilayer foil insulation composed of tungsten, molybdenum, and niobium is used to minimize heat loss from the hightemperature receiver. A liquid-cooled canister calorimeter is used to measure the heat loss through the multilayer foil insulation.

Wong, Wayne A.↗
DOE OSTI2024

The influence of burn severity on dissolved organic carbon concentrations across a stream network differs based on seasonal wetness conditions

Large, high-severity wildfires in many regions across the globe have increased concerns about their impacts on carbon cycling in watersheds. Altered sources of carbon and changes in catchment hydrology after wildfire can lead to shifts in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in streams, which can have negative impacts on aquatic ecosystem health and downstream drinking-water treatment. Despite its importance, post-fire DOC responses remain relatively unconstrained in the literature, and we lack critical knowledge of how burn severity, landscape elements, and climate interact to affect DOC concentrations. To improve our understanding of the impact of burn severity on DOC concentrations, we measured DOC at 129 sites across a stream network extending upstream, within, and downstream of a large, high-severity wildfire in Oregon, USA. We collected samples across the study sub-basin during four distinct seasonal wetness conditions. We used our high-spatial-resolution data to develop spatial stream network (SSN) models to predict DOC across the stream network and to improve our understanding of the controls on DOC concentrations. Spatially, we found no obvious wildfire signal – instead, we observed a pattern of increasing DOC concentrations from the high-elevation headwaters to the sub-basin outlet, while the mainstem maintained consistently low DOC concentrations. This suggests that effects from large wildfires may be “averaged” out at higher stream orders and larger spatial scales. When we grouped DOC concentrations by burn severity group, we observed a significant decrease in the variability of DOC concentrations in the moderate and high burn severity sub-catchments. However, our SSN models were able to predict decreases in DOC concentrations with increases in burn severity across the stream network. Decreases in DOC concentrations were also highly variable across seasonal wetness conditions, with the greatest (–1.40 to –1.64 mg L –1 ) decrease occurring in the high-severity group during the wetting season. Additionally, our models indicated that in all seasons, baseflow index was more influential in predicting DOC concentrations than burn severity was, indicating that groundwater discharge can obscure the impacts of wildfire in a stream network. Overall, our results suggested that landscape characteristics can regulate the DOC response to wildfire. Moreover, our results also indicated that the seasonal timing of sampling can influence the observed response of DOC concentrations to wildfire.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1979

Sensitivity of the predicted CO-OH-CH4 perturbation to tropospheric NOx concentrations

Measurements indicate that ambient NOx(NO + NO2) concentrations vary over at least an order of magnitude in the troposphere. Thus it is of interest to study atmospheric chemistry with NOx concentrations covering this range. In this paper we present steady state calculations which show that as NOx concentrations are increased from very low values, the hydroxyl radical concentration increases at first and then decreases. This change of behavior occurs at a concentration of NO2 of about 0.23 ppb in the model. Also, the response of the atmosphere to increased CO fluxes undergoes a qualitative change as a function of the concentration of NOx. At low levels of NOx concentration, an increase in CO fluxes into the atmosphere depletes the OH concentration and increases the concentrations of CH4 and H2, as reported in the literature. However, at high values of NOx concentration, increased CO fluxes give rise to an increase in the OH concentration and, consequently, a decrease in the concentrations of CH4 and H2.

Hameed, S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Growth, carbon dioxide exchange and mineral accumulation in potatoes grown at different magnesium concentrations

Plants of Norland potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) were maintained for 42 days at Mg concentrations of 0.05, 0.125, 0.25, 1, 2, and 4 mM in a nonrecirculating nutrient film system under controlled environment. With the increased Mg supply from 0.05 to 4 mM, Mg concentrations in the leaves of the 42-day old plants increased significantly from 1.1 to 11.2 mg g-1 dry weight. Plant leaf area and plant and tuber dry weights increased with increased Mg concentrations up to 1 mM in solution or 6.7 mg g-1 in leaves, and then decreased with further increases in Mg concentrations. Rates of CO2 assimilation measured on leaflets in situ at ambient and various intercellular CO2 concentrations were consistently lower at 0.05 and 4 mM Mg than at other Mg treatments, which may indicate decreased photosynthetic activity in mesophyll tissues at the lowest and highest Mg concentrations. Dark respiration rates in leaves were highest at 0.05 and 4 mM Mg, lowest at 0.25 and 1 mM Mg, and intermediate at 0.125 and 2 mM Mg. The different Mg treatments also influenced accumulation of other minerals in leaves. Leaf concentrations of Ca and Mn decreased with increased Mg supply except that Ca and Mn were lower at 0.05 mM than at 0.125 mM Mg. Leaf K concentrations were lower at 1, 2 and 4 mM Mg than at other Mg treatments. Foliar concentrations of P, Fe, Zn, and Cu had small but inconsistent variation with different Mg concentrations. Leaf concentrations of N, S, and B were similar at different Mg concentrations. This study demonstrates that various Mg nutrition, along with altered accumulation of other nutrients, could regulate dry matter production in potatoes by affecting not only leaf area but also leaf carbon dioxide assimilation and respiration.

NASA Discipline Number 61-10↗
NASA NTRS2008

Transmissive Diffractive Optical Element Solar Concentrators

Solar-thermal-radiation concentrators in the form of transmissive diffractive optical elements (DOEs) have been proposed as alternatives to mirror-type solar concentrators now in use. In comparison with functionally equivalent mirror-type solar concentrators, the transmissive, diffractive solar concentrators would weigh and cost less, and would be subject to relaxed mechanical tolerances. A DOE concentrator would be made from a thin, flat disk or membrane of a transmissive material having a suitable index of refraction. By virtue of its thinness, the DOE concentrator would have an areal mass density significantly less than that of a functionally equivalent conventional mirror. The DOE concentrator would have a relatively wide aperture--characterized by a focal-length/aperture-diameter ratio ('f number') on the order of 1. A kinoform (a surface-relief phase hologram) of high diffractive order would be microfabricated onto one face of the disk. The kinoform (see figure) would be designed to both diffract and refract incident solar radiation onto a desired focal region, without concern for forming an image of the Sun. The high diffractive order of this kinoform (in contradistinction to the low diffractive orders of some other kinoforms) would be necessary to obtain the desired f number of 1, which, in turn, would be necessary for obtaining a desired concentration ratio of 2,500 or greater. The design process of optimizing the concentration ratio of a proposed DOE solar concentrator includes computing convolutions of the optical bandwidth of the Sun with the optical transmission of the diffractive medium. Because, as in the cases of other non-imaging, light-concentrating optics, image quality is not a design requirement, the process also includes trading image quality against concentration ratio. A baseline design for one example calls for an aperture diameter of 1 m. This baseline design would be scalable to a diameter as large as 10 m, or to a smaller diameter for a laboratory test article. Initial calculations have indicated that the characteristics of the test article would be readily scalable to a full-size unit.

Baron, Richard↗
NASA NTRS2012

Cassegrain Solar Concentrator System for ISRU Material Processing

A 0.5 m diameter Cassegrain concentrator was constructed as a means of providing highly concentrated sunlight for the demonstration processing of lunar simulated regolith and other NASA In-Situ Resource Utilization Project (ISRU) reaction processes. The concentrator is constructed of aluminum with a concentration ratio of approximately 3000 to 1. The concentrator focuses solar energy into a movable tray located behind the concentrator. This tray can hold simulated regolith or any other material and or device to be tested with concentrated solar energy. The tray is movable in one axis. A 2-axis extended optical system was also designed and fabricated. The extended optical system is added to the back of the primary concentrator in place of the moveable test tray and associated apparatus. With this optical system the focused sunlight can be extended from the back of the primary concentrator toward the ground with the added advantage of moving the focal point axially and laterally relative to the ground. This allows holding the focal point at a fixed position on the ground as the primary concentrator tracks the sun. Also, by design, the focal point size was reduced via the extended optics by a factor of 2 and results in a concentration ratio for the system of approximately 6,000 to 1.The designs of both optical systems are discussed. The results from simulated regolith melting tests are presented as well as the operational experience of utilizing the Cassegrain concentrator system.

Colozza, Anthony J.↗
NASA NTRS2001

High-Efficiency Solar Thermal Vacuum Demonstration Completed for Refractive Secondary Concentrator

Common to many of the space applications that utilize solar thermal energy--such as electric power conversion, thermal propulsion, and furnaces--is a need for highly efficient, solar concentration systems. An effort is underway at the NASA Glenn Research Center to develop the refractive secondary concentrator, which uses refraction and total internal reflection to efficiently concentrate and direct solar energy. When used in combination with advanced lightweight primary concentrators, the refractive secondary concentrator enables very high system concentration ratios (10,000 to 1) and very high temperatures (>2000 K). The innovative refractive secondary concentrator offers significant advantages over all other types of secondary concentrators. The refractive secondary offers the highest throughput efficiency, provides for flux tailoring, requires no active cooling, relaxes the pointing and tracking requirements of the primary concentrator, and enables very high system concentration ratios. This technology has broad applicability to any system that requires the conversion of solar energy to heat. Glenn initiated the development of the refractive secondary concentrator in support of Shooting Star, a solar thermal propulsion flight experiment, and continued the development in support of Space Solar Power.

Wong, Wayne A.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Comparison of NASA Team2 and AES-York Ice Concentration Algorithms Against Operational Ice Charts From the Canadian Ice Service

Ice concentration retrieved from spaceborne passive-microwave observations is a prime input to operational sea-ice-monitoring programs, numerical weather prediction models, and global climate models. Atmospheric Environment Service (AES)- York and the Enhanced National Aeronautics and Space Administration Team (NT2) are two algorithms that calculate ice concentration from Special Sensor Microwave/Imager observations. This paper furnishes a comparison between ice concentrations (total, thin, and thick types) output from NT2 and AES-York algorithms against the corresponding estimates from the operational analysis of Radarsat images in the Canadian Ice Service (CIS). A new data fusion technique, which incorporates the actual sensor's footprint, was developed to facilitate this study. Results have shown that the NT2 and AES-York algorithms underestimate total ice concentration by 18.35% and 9.66% concentration counts on average, with 16.8% and 15.35% standard deviation, respectively. However, the retrieved concentrations of thin and thick ice are in much more discrepancy with the operational CIS estimates when either one of these two types dominates the viewing area. This is more likely to occur when the total ice concentration approaches 100%. If thin and thick ice types coexist in comparable concentrations, the algorithms' estimates agree with CIS'S estimates. In terms of ice concentration retrieval, thin ice is more problematic than thick ice. The concept of using a single tie point to represent a thin ice surface is not realistic and provides the largest error source for retrieval accuracy. While AES-York provides total ice concentration in slightly more agreement with CIS'S estimates, NT2 provides better agreement in retrieving thin and thick ice concentrations.

Shokr, Mohammed↗
NASA NTRS2019

Trends and Seasonal Variability of Atmospheric NO2 and HNO3 Concentrations Across Three Major African Biomes Inferred from Long-Term Series of Ground-Based and Satellite Measurements

In the framework of the INDAAF (International Network to study Deposition and Atmospheric chemistry in AFrica) programme, part of the ACTRIS (Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure), European Research Infrastructure for the long-term observation of Aerosol, Cloud, and Trace gases, this paper aims to study trends and seasonal variability of surface atmospheric NO2 and HNO3 concentrations, and OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) NO2 over 6 sites in tropical Africa. Sites are located in west and central Africa to represent the major African biomes: dry savanna (Banizoumbou, Niger and Katibougou, Mali), wet savanna (Djougou, Benin and Lamto, Côte d’Ivoire) and forest (Bomassa, Republic of Congo and Zoétélé, Cameroon). Ground-based NO2 and HNO3 concentrations were obtained over the period 1998–2015 using INDAAF passive samplers at a monthly basis, and NO2 Vertical Column Densities (VCDs) from OMI for a 1-degree grid cell around each sites were obtained from 2005 to 2015. Mean annual NO2 concentrations ranged from 2.3 plus or minus 1.2 to 0.9 plus or minus 0.4 parts per billion (ppb) from dry savannas to forests, representing a north-south gradient. In dry savannas, we observe two concentration peaks of NO2 appearing at the beginning and the end of the wet season both for ground-based and satellite measurements, whereas at wet savannas and forest sites, NO2 concentrations are highest in the dry season. The seasonality of surface NO2 observations provide further evidence for a large role of microbial soil NOx emissions in dry savannas and of biomass burning NOx emissions in wet savanna and forest sites. Mean annual HNO3 concentrations ranged from 0.4 to 0.5 ppb in dry and wet savannas to 0.2 to 0.3 ppb in forest. In dry ecosystems, higher HNO3 concentrations are measured in the early wet season, consistent with NO2 results. The analysis of a long-term dataset of surface O3 concentrations indicates that HNO3 production can mainly be explained by the photo-oxidation of NOx. Mann-Kendall and Seasonal Kendall statistical tests showed that NO2 surface concentrations have a significant decreasing seasonal and annual trends at multiple sites (p-value less than 0.05) ranging from -2.96 percent per year (at Zoétélé) to -0.64 percent per year (at Banizoumbou). HNO3 results indicate no trends except at Bomassa (1.07 percent per year). The decreasing NO2 ground-based concentration trends observed in wet savannas sites are correlated with OMI NO2 decreasing trends at these sites. Trends obtained for NO2 concentrations in wet savanna and forest ecosystems are consistent with trends of NOₓ biomass burning emissions.

Trends↗
DOE OSTI2025

Nearby Sites Show Similar Upwind Sources and Differing Semivolatile Concentrations in Coastal Aerosol Particles

The Eastern Pacific Cloud Aerosol Precipitation Experiment (EPCAPE) characterized aerosol composition using measurements at two sites within 3 km (Scripps Pier and Mt. Soledad) from 15 February 2023 to 14 February 2024. Comparing the two sites shows the strong influence of upwind sources that results in similar monthly compositions at both sites. The seasonal changes in chemical mass concentrations were largely driven by the upwind source regions, with coastal northwesterly back-trajectories occurring 63−65% of the year and bringing submicrometer mass concentrations that were lower than the EPCAPE average for all trajectories at each site. In contrast, refractory black carbon (rBC) and nonrefractory (NR)-organics and nitrate mass concentrations exceeded EPCAPE average concentrations for back-trajectories from urban areas such as Los Angeles-Long Beach. For hourly measurements, NR-organics and non-sea-salt (NSS)-sulfate mass concentrations at Mt. Soledad were correlated strongly (r = 0.73−0.82) to those measured at Scripps Pier, but NR-nitrate was correlated only moderately (r = 0.63). The explanation for the lower correlation of NR-nitrate is both emissions between the sites and semivolatility, with semivolatility accounting for site-to-site changes in daily averages of +0.01 μg m −3 per percentage site-to-site difference in relative humidity and −0.07 μg m −3 per degree Celsius site-to-site difference in temperature. On average, comparing Scripps Pier to Mt. Soledad, NR-nitrate was higher by 29% because of relative humidity and lower by −26% because of temperature. NR-nitrate and rBC mass concentrations at Scripps Pier for nighttime were 13−15% higher than those for daytime because land breezes brought higher inland concentrations. Concentrations of rBC were 52% higher at Mt. Soledad than those measured at Scripps Pier, accompanied by increases in tracers for brake wear because of traffic on the steep roads within 10 m of that site. The implications are that these nearby sites had comparable monthly concentrations of measured components due to their similar backtrajectories, but hourly and daily concentration differences supported quantification of the meteorological effects from relative humidity and temperature on semivolatile NR-nitrate as well as minor differences from land−sea breezes and local emissions.

Aerosols↗
NASA NTRS1994

Arctic sea ice concentrations from special sensor microwave imager and advanced very high resolution radiometer satellite data

Nearly coincident data from the special sensor microwave imager (SSM/I) and the advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) are used to compute and compare Arctic sea ice concentrations for different regions and times of the year. To help determine overall accuracies and to highlight sources of differences between passive microwave, optical wavelength, and thermal wavelength data, ice concentrations are estimated using two operational SSM/I ice concentration algorithms and with visible- and thermal-infrared wavelength AVHRR data. All algorithms capture the seasonal patterns of ice growth and melt. The ranges of differences fall within the general levels of uncertainty expected for each method and are similar to previous accuracy estimates. The estimated ice concentrations are all highly correlated, with uniform biases, although differences between individual pairs of observations can be large. On average, the NASA Team algorithm yielded 5% higher ice concentrations than the Bootstrap algorithm, while during nonmelt periods the two SSM/I algorithms agree to within 0.5%. These seasonal differences are consistent with the ways that the 19-GHz and 37-GHz microwave channels are used in the algorithms. When compared to the AVHRR-derived ice concentrations, the Team-algorithm results are more similar on average in terms of correlation and mean differences. However, the Team algorithm underestimates concentrations relative to the AVHRR output by 6% during cold months and overestimates by 3% during summer. Little seasonal difference exists between the Bootstrap and AVHRR results, with a mean difference of about 5%. Although the mean differences are less between the SSM/I-derived concentrations and concentrations estimated using AVHRR channel 1, the correlations appear substantially better between the SSM/I data and concentrations derived from AVHRR channel 4, particularly for the Team algorithm output.

Emery, W. J.↗