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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Rancor Integrated Procedure System (RIPS): A Computer-Based Procedure Platform for Advanced Reactor Research

The Rancor Microworld Simulator is a simplified, pressurized water, small modular reactor simulator that includes a multi-unit plant model server, an advanced digital human-machine control interface, and the Rancor Integrated Procedure System (RIPS). Rancor provides a research and development tool that can be used for collecting operator performance data and for prototyping concepts of operations (ConOps) for advanced reactor development. RIPS is meant as a research tool and includes many unique features: (1) RIPS has a robust procedure authoring system. (2) RIPS has the capability to run any of the three IEEE-Std-1786 computer-based procedure types. (3) RIPS can be configured to take on the look and feel of different vendors’ computer-based procedure systems for the purpose of developing and evaluating different ConOps for plant upgrades or new builds. (4) RIPS includes the capability for logging operator procedure use, including integrating procedure logs with Rancor simulator logs, thereby allowing automated data collection of operator scenario runs. (5) RIPS integrates with the Human Unimodel for Nuclear Technology to Enhance Reliability (HUNTER), a dynamic human reliability analysis environment that creates a digital human twin or virtual operator to mimic reactor operator performance. (6) RIPS includes support for automation of plant monitoring and control functions. While RIPS is explicitly built into Rancor, it may also be used with full-scope training simulators. This functionality allows RIPS to be used for existing plants and advanced reactors under development.

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Metabolic flux, metabolite, and transcript analysis uncover reprogramming of metabolism toward higher seed oil

Overexpression of WRINKLED1 (WRI1), a master regulator of glycolysis and fatty acid biosynthesis, together with DIACYLGLYCEROL ACYLTRANSFERASE1 (DGAT1), which catalyzes the final step of triacylglycerol assembly, is a promising strategy for enhancing seed oil content. However, how these regulators coordinate system-wide metabolic reprogramming at the levels of gene expression, metabolite pools, and fluxes remains poorly understood. To address this, we performed 13 C-metabolic flux analysis, metabolomics, and transcriptomics on in vitro cultured pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) embryos overexpressing the native WRI1 and DGAT1 homologs. Here, in cultured embryos, WRI1/DGAT1 overexpression increased triacylglycerol accumulation by 28% while reducing protein content by 34%, relative to the wild type. Embryos showed ∼20-fold and 50-fold upregulation of WRI1 and DGAT1 along with induction of WRI1 target genes in glycolysis and fatty acid biosynthesis. Genes associated with photosynthesis and Calvin cycle functions were also upregulated, whereas genes encoding ribosomal proteins and seed storage proteins were strongly repressed, consistent with the observed lipid–protein tradeoff. Flux analysis revealed that enhanced triacylglycerol biosynthesis is supported by increased flux through the Rubisco shunt and cytosolic pyruvate kinase, while the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway and malic enzyme contributed little to NADPH or pyruvate supply. Metabolomic profiling revealed extensive perturbations in glycolytic intermediates, tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolites, and amino acids. In plant grown seeds, WRI1/DGAT1 lines also showed a modest but significant increase in total lipid content. Collectively, these findings reveal how WRI1 and DGAT1 reprogram central metabolism to enhance oil accumulation, with relevance to mature seeds.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

AtDGCR14L contributes to salt-stress tolerance via regulating pre-mRNA splicing in Arabidopsis

In plants, the pre-mRNA alternative splicing has been demonstrated to be a crucial tier that regulates gene expression in response to salt stress. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, in this study, we studied the roles of DIGEORGE-SYNDROME CRITICAL REGION 14-like (AtDGCR14L) in regulating pre-mRNA splicing and salt stress tolerance. We discovered that Arabidopsis AtDGCR14L is required for maintaining plant salt stress tolerance and the constitutively spliced and active isoforms of important stress- and/or abscisic acid (ABA)-responsive genes. We also identified the interaction between AtDGCR14L and splicing factor U1-70k, which needs a highly conserved three amino acid (TWG) motif in DGCR14. Different from wild-type AtDGCR14L, the overexpression of TWG-substituted AtDGCR14L mutant did not change salt stress tolerance or pre-mRNA splicing of stress/ABA-responsive genes. Additionally, SWITCH3A (SWI3A) is a core subunit of the SWI/SUCROSE NONFERMENTING (SWI/SNF) chromatin-remodeling complexes. We found that SWI3A, whose splicing depends on AtDGCR14L, actively enhances salt stress tolerance. These results revealed that AtDGCR14L may play an essential role in crosstalk between plant salt-stress response and pre-mRNA splicing mechanisms. We also unveiled the potential role of SWI3A in controlling salt stress tolerance. The TWG motif in the intrinsically disordered region of AtDGCR14L is highly conserved and crucial for DGCR14 functions.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1973

Effect of free fall on higher plants.

The influence of exposure to the free-fall state on the orientation, morphogenesis, physiology, and radiation response of higher plants is briefly summarized. It is proposed that the duration of the space-flight experiments has been to brief to permit meaningful effects of free fall on general biochemistry, growth, and development to appear. However, two types of significant effect did occur. The first is on differential growth - i.e., tropism and epinasty - resulting from the absence of a normal geostimulus. For these phenomena it is suggested that ground-based experiments with the clinostat would suffice to mimic the effect of the free-fall state. The second is an apparent interaction between the radiation response and some flight condition, yielding an enhanced microspore abortion, a disturbed spindle function, and a stunting of stamen hairs. It is suggested that this apparent interaction may be derived from a shift in the rhythm of the cell cycle, induced by the free fall.

Gordon, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Aggregating available soil water holding capacity data for crop yield models

The total amount of water available to plants that is held against gravity in a soil is usually estimated as the amount present at -0.03 MPa average water potential minus the amount present at -1.5 MPa water potential. This value, designated available water-holding capacity (AWHC), is a very important soil characteristic that is strongly and positively correlated to the inherent productivity of soils. In various applications, including assessing soil moisture status over large areas, it is necessary to group soil types or series as to their productivity. Current methods to classify AWHC of soils consider only total capacity of soil profiles and thus may group together soils which differ greatly in AWHC as a function of depth in the profile. A general approach for evaluating quantitatively the multidimensional nature of AWHC in soils is described. Data for 902 soil profiles, representing 184 soil series, in Indiana were obtained from the Soil Characterization Laboratory at Purdue University. The AWHC for each of ten 150-mm layers in each soil was established, based on soil texture and parent material. A multivariate clustering procedure was used to classify each soil profile into one of 4, 8, or 12 classes based upon ten-dimensional AWHC values. The optimum number of classes depends on the range of AWHC in the population of oil profiles analyzed and on the sensitivity of a crop to differences in distribution of water within the soil profile.

Seubert, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Severely reduced gravitropism in dark-grown hypocotyls of a starch-deficient mutant of Nicotiana sylvestris

Gravitropism in dark-grown hypocotyls of the wild type was compared with a starch-deficient Nicotiana sylvestris mutant (NS 458) to test the effects of starch deficiency on gravity sensing. In a time course of curvature measured using infrared video, the response of the mutant was greatly reduced compared to the wild type; 72 hours after reorientation, curvature was about 10 degrees for NS 458 and about 70 degrees for wild type. In dishes maintained in a vertical orientation, wild-type hypocotyls were predominantly vertical, whereas NS 458 hypocotyls were severely disoriented with about 5 times more orientational variability than wild type. Since the growth rates were equal for both genotypes and phototropic curvature was only slightly inhibited in NS 458, the mutation probably affects gravity perception rather than differential growth. Our data suggest that starch deficiency reduces gravitropic sensitivity more in dark-grown hypocotyls than in dark- or light-grown roots in this mutant and support the hypothesis that amyloplasts function as statoliths in shoots as well as roots.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS2000

Mapping Agricultural Crops with AVIRIS Spectra in Washington State

Spectroscopy is used in the laboratory to measure the molecular components and concentrations of plant constituents to answer questions about the plant type, status, and health. Imaging spectrometers measure the upwelling spectral radiance above the Earth's surface as images. Ideally, imaging spectrometer data sets should be used to understand plant type, plant status, and health of plants in an agricultural setting. An Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data set was acquired over agricultural fields near Wallula, Washington on July 23rd, 1997. AVIRIS measures upwelling radiance spectra through 224 spectral channels with contiguous 10-nm sampling from 400 to 2500 run in the solar-reflected spectrum. The spectra are measured as images of 11 by up to 800 km with 20-m spatial resolution. The spectral images measured by AVIRIS represent the integrated signal resulting from: the solar irradiance; two way transmittance and scattering of the atmosphere; the absorptions and scattering of surface materials; as well as the spectral, radiometric and spatial response functions of AVIRIS. This paper presents initial research to derive properties of the agricultural fields near Wallula from the calibrated spectral images measured by AVIRIS near the top of the atmosphere.

Green, Robert O.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Mapping Agricultural Crops with AVIRIS Spectra in Washington State

Spectroscopy is used in the laboratory to measure the molecular components and concentrations of plant constituents to answer questions about the plant type, status, and health. Imaging spectrometers measure the upwelling spectral radiance above the Earth's surface as images. Ideally, imaging spectrometer data sets should be used to understand plant type, plant status, and health of plants in an agricultural setting. An Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data set was acquired over agricultural fields near Wallula, Washington on July 23rd, 1997. AVIRIS measures upwelling radiance spectra through 224 spectral channels with contiguous 10-nm sampling from 400 to 2500 nm in the solar-reflected spectrum. The spectra are measured as images of 11 by up to 800 km with 20-m spatial resolution. The spectral images measured by AVIRIS represent the integrated signal resulting from: the solar irradiance; two way transmittance and scattering of the atmosphere; the absorptions and scattering of surface materials; as well as the spectral, radiometric and spatial response functions of AVIRIS. This paper presents initial research to derive properties of the agricultural fields near Wallula from the calibrated spectral images measured by AVIRIS near the top of the atmosphere.

Green, Robert↗
DOE OSTI2022

Forest tree growth is linked to mycorrhizal fungal composition and function across Europe

Most trees form symbioses with ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) which influence access to growth-limiting soil resources. Mesocosm experiments repeatedly show that EMF species differentially affect plant development, yet whether these effects ripple up to influence the growth of entire forests remains unknown. Here we tested the effects of EMF composition and functional genes relative to variation in well-known drivers of tree growth by combining paired molecular EMF surveys with high-resolution forest inventory data across 15 European countries. We show that EMF composition was linked to a three-fold difference in tree growth rate even when controlling for the primary abiotic drivers of tree growth. Fast tree growth was associated with EMF communities harboring high inorganic but low organic nitrogen acquisition gene proportions and EMF which form contact versus medium-distance fringe exploration types. These findings suggest that EMF composition is a strong bio-indicator of underlying drivers of tree growth and/or that variation of forest EMF communities causes differences in tree growth. While it may be too early to assign causality or directionality, our study is one of the first to link fine-scale variation within a key component of the forest microbiome to ecosystem functioning at a continental scale.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Building Interfaces with Echo Using R

The following report details the functionality that was developed to directly query the MongoDB and read in echo records from within R, and the ability to create a cinema database directly from echo records. Both of these efforts used the data collected under the MINOS project for development. The nuclear facility under consideration is the High-Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and co-located Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, TN. HFIR is an 85 MW research reactor and is used primarily for production of a medical radioisotopes, material irradiation experiments, neutron activation, and neutron scattering. Targets for the reactor are fabricated and processed and dissolved at REDC, in addition to other glove-box and hot-cell type activities. An overhead view of the facility is provided. The rest of the report is organized as follows: Section 2 describes how to query the MongoDB and load in echo records from within R, with background information on the database type, MongoDB, and the file format of echo records, hdf5, as well as lessons learned during the development phase. Section 3 details the functionality and usage of creating a cinema database directly from echo records within R. A series of appendixes display all the R code (Section 5), some example scripts where the code is used (Section 6), and useful links for further exploration (Section 7).

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Intelligent Process Visualization through Nuclear Operation Process Modeling, Reasoning, and Object Detection from Field Videos (Final Report)

This report is a deliverable for the “Final Report” task of DOE NEET Project 19-16790, "Context-Aware Safety Information Display for Nuclear Field Workers." This project's overall goal is to test the hypothesis that integrating computer vision and process reasoning methods will enable proactive visualization of the safe operation and maintenance processes of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) for field workers. Augmented Reality (AR) glasses adopting such proactive safety information visualization techniques can significantly increase personnel safety and reduce the NPP’s operating costs. The current practice of monitoring NPPs requires workers to switch between digital models, data, and physical workspaces in identifying relevant but potentially occluded objects and in assessing the risks of operation and maintenance processes. On the other hand, frequently changed field conditions require field workers to report to supervisors for real-time guidance. Such guidance is essential to ensure that changing conditions will not invalidate or endanger the work order and other ongoing processes that may jeopardize NPP operations. Additionally, incorrect recognition of equipment objects can result in communication errors and safety problems. AR techniques can assist engineers in viewing the physical workspaces with objects labeled with detailed operation procedures and safety reminders during field operations. The project team developed an “Intelligent Context-Aware Safety Information Display” (ICAD) for supporting Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) field workers in achieving safe and efficient execution of a series of operational tasks in uncertain and changing workspaces of an NPP. Before designing the ICAD-AR prototype, the project team synthesized NPP operational knowledge models through literature review studies, surveys, interviews with domain experts, and knowledge modeling. The project team conducted an extensive study of the operational procedures of various NPPs, and digital technologies that can support the safe and efficient execution of those procedures in different NPP operational contexts. This literature review helped the project team conduct surveys and interviews with nuclear engineers and field workers to identify three categories of information. The NPP knowledge modeling efforts reveal that the three categories of information identified have different levels of importance in a typical procedure of carrying out a series of tasks to achieve a specific NPP operation goal (e.g., shutdown, mode changes). These three categories of information include 1) Workspace dynamics – the changing spatial arrangements of workspaces, tools, protection equipment, and supporting materials, 2) Workflow prognostics – the dynamic dependencies between different parts of an NPP that functionally support and influence each other in terms of safety and efficiency, and 3) Hazards – objects and spaces that contain hazardous materials or physical conditions that can pose risks to workers or mechanical systems. The project team has profiled the importance levels of these categories of information into a knowledge model. This knowledge model specifies what types of information are more critical for a given task in a given workspace so that computers can automatically identify critical objects and sensors in a scene for delivering context-ware safety information to field workers through AR devices. Significant research development of this project results in technical research outcomes and a prototyping system that illustrates the technical feasibility of establishing an ICAD-AR system supporting the proactive safety information display for nuclear field workers. This final report summarizes the project team’s technological achievements in the past three years. Overall, the project team completed the development and integration of five techniques into a prototype ICAD Augmented Reality (ICAD-AR) system and demonstrated the developed system’s real-time execution in a mechanical room. The project team completed the analysis of using this prototype in other types of workspaces based on 3D image data and digital design models collected from two additional workspaces (a water treatment plant and a flow loop training facility). The integrated techniques include 1) Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms supporting the generation and updates of nuclear fieldwork process models based on text analysis of work packages and operation manuals; 2) sensor log analysis for predicting control actions in given sensor reading contexts; 3) computer vision algorithms for automatic localization and navigation of workers; 4) object detection algorithms for identifying task-related objects and correlated sensors for safety checking; 5) AR technique as a platform for supporting the integration. The testing results of these five techniques have shown that 1) the sensor log analysis model can predict the next control action with an accuracy of 0.883; 2) the trained natural language processing model can extract more than 80% of the critical information from paper-based procedures (PBPs); 3) the navigation algorithm with the integration of Visual Inertial Odometry (VIO) and Non-Recursive Bayesian Filter methods make operator’s trajectory estimation resilient to drift error; 4) the computer vision algorithm can detect task-specific and safety-critical objects with an average accuracy of 95.3%. The project team used work procedures collected from a flow loop training facility and two datasets collected from two mechanical rooms simulating the workspaces of NPPs to demonstrate the technical capabilities of the developed ICAD-AR prototype. The demonstration validated the technical feasibility of establishing the ICAD-AR system for nuclear field workers and identified the challenges in 1) automatic text analysis of work packages; 2) use of limited samples of sensor logs for predicting the proper timings of control actions; 3) reliably tracking workers and their task progress in mechanical rooms with many similar objects.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS1989

Active vibration mitigation of distributed parameter, smart-type structures using Pseudo-Feedback Optimal Control (PFOC)

A new, near-optimal feedback control technique is introduced that is shown to provide excellent vibration attenuation for those distributed parameter systems that are often encountered in the areas of aeroservoelasticity and large space systems. The technique relies on a novel solution methodology for the classical optimal control problem. Specifically, the quadratic regulator control problem for a flexible vibrating structure is first cast in a weak functional form that admits an approximate solution. The necessary conditions (first-order) are then solved via a time finite-element method. The procedure produces a low dimensional, algebraic parameterization of the optimal control problem that provides a rigorous basis for a discrete controller with a first-order like hold output. Simulation has shown that the algorithm can successfully control a wide variety of plant forms including multi-input/multi-output systems and systems exhibiting significant nonlinearities. In order to firmly establish the efficacy of the algorithm, a laboratory control experiment was implemented to provide planar (bending) vibration attenuation of a highly flexible beam (with a first clamped-free mode of approximately 0.5 Hz).

Patten, W. N.↗
DOE OSTI2023

A conserved gene regulatory network controls root epidermal cell patterning in superrosid species

Summary In superrosid species, root epidermal cells differentiate into root hair cells and nonhair cells. In some superrosids, the root hair cells and nonhair cells are distributed randomly (Type I pattern), and in others, they are arranged in a position‐dependent manner (Type III pattern). The model plant Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ) adopts the Type III pattern, and the gene regulatory network (GRN) that controls this pattern has been defined. However, it is unclear whether the Type III pattern in other species is controlled by a similar GRN as in Arabidopsis, and it is not known how the different patterns evolved. In this study, we analyzed superrosid species Rhodiola rosea , Boehmeria nivea , and Cucumis sativus for their root epidermal cell patterns. Combining phylogenetics, transcriptomics, and cross‐species complementation, we analyzed homologs of the Arabidopsis patterning genes from these species. We identified R. rosea and B. nivea as Type III species and C. sativus as Type I species. We discovered substantial similarities in structure, expression, and function of Arabidopsis patterning gene homologs in R. rosea and B. nivea , and major changes in C. sativus . We propose that in superrosids, diverse Type III species inherited the patterning GRN from a common ancestor, whereas Type I species arose by mutations in multiple lineages.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Data for Characterization of the Ghd8 Flowering Time Gene in a Mini-Core Collection of Miscanthus sinensis

The optimal flowering time for bioenergy crop miscanthus is essential for environmental adaptability and biomass accumulation. However, little is known about how genes controlling flowering in other grasses contribute to flowering regulation in miscanthus. Here, we report on the sequence characterization and gene expression of Miscanthus sinensisGhd8 , a transcription factor encoding a HAP3/NF-YB DNA-binding domain, which has been identified as a major quantitative trait locus in rice, with pleiotropic effects on grain yield, heading date and plant height. In M. sinensis , we identified two homoeologous loci, MsiGhd8A located on chromosome 13 and MsiGhd8B on chromosome 7, with one on each of this paleo-allotetraploid species’ subgenomes. A total of 46 alleles and 28 predicted protein sequence types were identified in 12 wild-collected accessions. Several variants of MsiGhd8 showed a geographic and latitudinal distribution. Quantitative real-time PCR revealed that MsiGhd8 expressed under both long days and short days, and MsiGhd8B showed a significantly higher expression than MsiGhd8A . The comparison between flowering time and gene expression indicated that MsiGhd8B affected flowering time in response to day length for some accessions. This study provides insight into the conserved function of Ghd8 in the Poaceae, and is an important initial step in elucidating the flowering regulatory network of Miscanthus.

Feedstock Production↗
DOE OSTI2021

Characterization of the Ghd8 Flowering Time Gene in a Mini-Core Collection of Miscanthus sinensis

The optimal flowering time for bioenergy crop Miscanthus is essential for environmental adaptability and biomass accumulation. However, little is known about how genes controlling flowering in other grasses contribute to flowering regulation in Miscanthus. Here, we report on the sequence characterization and gene expression of Miscanthus sinensisGhd8, a transcription factor encoding a HAP3/NF-YB DNA-binding domain, which has been identified as a major quantitative trait locus in rice, with pleiotropic effects on grain yield, heading date and plant height. In M. sinensis, we identified two homoeologous loci, MsiGhd8A located on chromosome 13 and MsiGhd8B on chromosome 7, with one on each of this paleo-allotetraploid species’ subgenomes. A total of 46 alleles and 28 predicted protein sequence types were identified in 12 wild-collected accessions. Several variants of MsiGhd8 showed a geographic and latitudinal distribution. Quantitative real-time PCR revealed that MsiGhd8 expressed under both long days and short days, and MsiGhd8B showed a significantly higher expression than MsiGhd8A. The comparison between flowering time and gene expression indicated that MsiGhd8B affected flowering time in response to day length for some accessions. This study provides insight into the conserved function of Ghd8 in the Poaceae, and is an important initial step in elucidating the flowering regulatory network of Miscanthus.

geographic distribution↗
NASA NTRS1979

Fuel cell sesquicentennial

The development of fuel cell technology is summarized, and the potential for utility-type fuel cell installations is assessed on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the construction of the first fuel cell by Sir William Grove. The only functional fuel-cell systems developed to date, the hydrogen-oxygen cells used by NASA, are indicated, and hydrazine and alcohol (methanol) cells are considered. Areas requiring development before the implementation of fuel cells as general purpose utility-type electric generators include catalysts for naturally occurring hydrocarbons or processes for low-cost methanol or hydrazine production, efficient means of scrubbing and enriching air, self-regulating systems, and 15- to 20-fold power density increases. It is argued that although ideas for eliminating certain of the above-mentioned problems have been proposed, fuel-cell systems can never be expected to equal the efficiency, reliability and low cost of conventional power plants, and thus developmental support should be discontinued.

Cohn, E. M.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Understanding Transient Combustion Phenomena in Low-NO x Gas Turbines

The goal of this work was to understand, quantify, and eventually predict combustion instability during operational transients in low-NO x gas turbine combustors. Transient operation is defined as a mode where one or more key operating parameters, including equivalence ratio, fuel composition, or fuel splitting between nozzles in a combustor, are varying in time. The timescale over which this variation occurs will be referred to as the transient timescale, the magnitude of the change in the transient parameter will be referred to as the transient amplitude, and the direction of the variation will be referred to as the transient direction. Transients occur regularly in power generation gas turbine operation. For example, load-following gas turbines vary load to meet power demands while accounting for variation in unsteady grid contributors like wind and solar power. Operators achieve this by varying equivalence ratio and fuel splitting inside the combustors to produce more or less power. Another example of transient operation is during fuel-switching operations, a particular issue for turbines operating with syngas fuels in a co-generation facility. In this case, the composition of the fuel stream may vary in time either as a result of fluctuations in the pipeline, or in the case of a co-generation plant, variations in feedstock or gasification processes. This fluctuation in fuel composition can have significant implications for combustion processes, particularly with high-hydrogen fuels. A small number of studies have investigated transient behavior in gas turbine combustors, particularly in the context of flame blow-off; here, investigators have typically focused on issues of transient amplitude, though without the depth and physics-based experimental design that is proposed in this program. To our knowledge, there have been no studies that have quantified the impact of the transient timescale on combustion. The work helped us understand the impact of several types of transients on combustion stability. Both static and dynamic combustion stability will be considered. The transients will be quantified using their amplitude, direction, and timescale, and we will consider transients in equivalence ratio, fuel composition, and fuel splitting. There were two main objectives of this work: 1. Provide a fundamental understanding of combustion stability during transient operation using data obtained from a number of high-speed diagnostic techniques on experimental configurations that capture important gas turbine combustor features and operating conditions. This goal was met in conjunction with our industrial partner, GE Global Research, with whom we worked closely throughout the program. 2. Develop a stability prediction framework that will allow for the prediction, and possible control, of instabilities as a function of the transient amplitude, direction, and timescale. This input/output model should be physics-based and allow for screening of operating conditions and prediction of unstable behavior at the end of a transient by monitoring combustor health and precursor signals during operation.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
NASA NTRS1991

Optimum combinations of visible and near-infrared reflectances for estimating the fraction of photosynthetically available radiation absorbed by plants

A useful parameter to estimate terrestrial primary productivity, that can be sensed from space, is the daily averaged fraction of Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR) absorbed by plants. To evaluate this parameter, investigators have relied on the fact that the relative amount of radiation reflected by a vegetated surface in the visible and near infrared depends on the fraction of the surface covered by the vegetation and therefore, correlates with absorbed PAR. They have used vegetation indices, namely normalized difference and simple ratio, to derive absorbed PAR. The problem with normalized difference and simple ratio is first, they are non linear functions of radiance or reflectance and therefore, cannot be readily applied to heterogeneous targets, second, they are used in generally nonlinear relationships, which make time integrals of the indices not proportional to primary productivity, and third, the relationships depend strongly on the type of canopy and background. To remove these limitations, linear combinations of visible and near infrared reflectances at optimum (one or two) viewing zenith angles are proposed.

Podaire, Alain↗