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At least 451 records · Page 25

A Doppler radar study of convective draft lengths over Darwin, Australia

Data from an upward-pointing wind profiler radar pair at Darwin in tropical Australia are used to determine the characteristics of individual convective up- and downdrafts observed at the site. Drafts are identified as vertically contiguous regions of instantaneous upward or downward motion exceeding 0.2 m s –1 . Most updrafts and downdrafts found are less than 2 km in vertical extent, and updrafts exceeding 5 km in vertical length carry no more than 33% of the total upward mass flux. Updraft length correlates positively with rain rates, and on very high rain rates (greater than 20 mm h –1 ), average updraft lengths are ~5 km. Typical peak updraft velocities increase from ~2.5 m s –1 for the smallest to ~4 m s –1 for the largest drafts, while those for downdrafts remain ~2 m s –1 regardless of size. Furthermore, these results are broadly consistent with other numerical modeling studies, but contrast with the common view of deep convection as being dominated by continuous, deep drafts.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Development and Comparison of Purgeable Mercury Values in SRR Samples Measured by SRNL and Eurofins FGS

Savannah River Remediation (SRR) requested the development of mercury speciation capabilities at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) to support the Liquid Waste Operations at SRS. As part of that method development, SRR requested that SRNL Analytical Development (AD) compare their results with those obtained from their outside contract laboratory, Eurofins Frontier Global Sciences (FGS). This document reports on this method development work as well as the comparative analyses conducted between the two laboratories. Development, optimization, and validation were undertaken at SRNL to produce a method for the species-specific analysis of dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) in samples from SRR. It was determined that DGM present in SRR samples represented a combination of various soluble and volatile mercury species- and is thus referred to in this document as purgeable mercury. A method has been developed and analytically validated for the analysis of purgeable mercury in caustic nuclear waste. Using multivariate optimization method, purge flow rate was determined to be highly correlated with increased response (p=0.023). Total recovery of spiked purgeable mercury from deionized water was 99.4 ±10.6% and 91.6 ±14.9% from spiked high-activity tank waste samples. Calibration, by external calibration and standard addition calibration, maintained a mean accuracy of 101 ±5% and 99.9 ±1.7%, respectively. This method represents a decrease in sample handling and processing over currently standard methods and represents a more amenable method for purgeable mercury analysis in liquid nuclear waste.1 An interlaboratory comparison was performed between SRNL and Eurofins FGS in the co-analysis of three quarterly Tank 50 samples. Two samples demonstrated no statistically significant difference (p=0.271, p=0.0811), with one sample biased 30% low to a statistically significant degree (p=0.0432). Large mean uncertainty was present in the results reported by both laboratories (±15% and 40% from SRNL and Eurofins), with no significant difference observed in uncertainty (p=0.934). Across all co-analyzed samples, no significantly difference was observed in precision (p=0.205) or reported values (p=0.352) between SRNL and Eurofins. These results indicate that SRNL-AD may provide data to the customer of statistically similar quality.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Mapping Cheatgrass Across the Range of the Greater Sage-Grouse: Linking Biophysical, Climate and Remote Sensing Data to Predict Cheatgrass Occurrence

Increasing spread of invasive annual grasses, such as Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass), can contribute to increased fire frequency and hinder the reestablishment of native sagebrush, forbs, and grasses in subsequent years. Knowledge of the current distribution of cheatgrass on the landscape is a key component in planning and executing strategies to protect sagebrush ecosystems and sensitive wildlife species such as the Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) worked with US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to assemble and derive information to map cheatgrass occurrence across the historic range of sage-grouse. The information and map products described in this report can help land managers prioritize conservation efforts at the species’ range scale. We constructed an ecological model based on a suite of climatic and biophysical variables and satellite measures of peak NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) – an index of vegetation greenness – to predict cheatgrass occurrence across the historic range of sage-grouse in the United States. More than 24,000 field measurements of cheatgrass cover across the study area were acquired from various agencies and research groups and reviewed for use in the modeling efforts. A subset of 6650 field measurement points were identified and verified for use in statistical analyses. For each measurement location we derived a suite of 50 biophysical and NDVI variables correlated with cheatgrass occurrence. Pairwise correlation of variables was examined to remove highly-correlated variables from the model. A total of 13 variables were retained for use in forward-stepping discriminant analysis and modeling. Discriminant scores were used to determine probability of cheatgrass occurrence, which was broken into two relative cover classes: 0% to 2% cover and > 2% cheatgrass cover. This report describes the data and methods used to develop the model and the cheatgrass occurrence map. We provide a brief discussion of the accuracy of classification, and describe the appropriate scale of use for map results. The range-wide map of occurrence will be made available online for FWS and partner agencies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Effects of 5-ion 6-beam sequential irradiation in the presence and absence of hindlimb or control hindlimb unloading on behavioral performances and plasma metabolic pathways of Fischer 344 rats

Introduction Effects and interactions between different spaceflight stressors are expected to be experienced by crew on missions when exposed to microgravity and galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). One of the limitations of previous studies on simulated weightlessness using hindlimb unloading (HU) is that a control HU condition was not included. Methods We characterized the behavioral performance of male Fischer rats 2 months after sham or total body irradiation with a simplified 5-ion 6-mixed-beam exposure representative of GCRs in the absence or presence of HU. Six months later, the plasma, hippocampus, and cortex were processed to determine whether the behavioral effects were associated with long-term alterations in the metabolic pathways. Results In the open field without and with objects, interactions were observed for radiation × HU. In the plasma of animals that were not under the HU or control HU condition, the riboflavin metabolic pathway was affected most for sham irradiation vs. 0.75 Gy exposure. Analysis of the effects of control HU on plasma in the sham-irradiated animals showed that the alanine, aspartate, glutamate, riboflavin, and glutamine metabolisms as well as arginine biosynthesis were affected. The effects of control HU on the hippocampus in the sham-irradiated animals showed that the phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan pathway was affected the most. Analysis of effects of 0.75 Gy irradiation on the cortex of control HU animals showed that the glutamine and glutamate metabolic pathway was affected similar to the hippocampus, while the riboflavin pathway was affected in animals that were not under the control HU condition. The effects of control HU on the cortex in sham-irradiated animals showed that the riboflavin metabolic pathway was affected. Animals receiving 0.75 Gy of irradiation showed impaired glutamine and glutamate metabolic pathway, whereas animals receiving 1.5 Gy of irradiation showed impaired riboflavin metabolic pathways. A total of 21 plasma metabolites were correlated with the behavioral measures, indicating that plasma and brain biomarkers associated with behavioral performance are dependent on the environmental conditions experienced. Discussion Phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan metabolism as well as phenylalanine and tryptophan as plasma metabolites are biomarkers that can be considered for spaceflight as they were revealed in both Fischer and WAG/Rij rats exposed to simGCRsim and/or HU.

Physiology↗

GenASiS: General Astrophysical Simulation System. II. Self-gravitating Baryonic Matter*

GenASiS (General Astrophysical Simulation System) is a code being developed initially and primarily, though not exclusively, for the simulation of core-collapse supernovae on the world's leading capability supercomputers. This paper---the second in a series---documents capabilities for Newtonian self-gravitating fluid dynamics, including tabulated microphysical equations of state treating nuclei and nuclear matter (`baryonic matter'). Computation of the gravitational potential of a spheroid, and simulation of the gravitational collapse of dust and of an ideal fluid, provide tests of self-gravitation against known solutions. In multidimensional computations of the adiabatic collapse, bounce, and explosion of spherically symmetric pre-supernova progenitors---which we propose become a standard benchmark for code comparisons---we find that the explosions are prompt and remain spherically symmetric (as expected), with an average shock expansion speed and total kinetic energy that are inversely correlated with the progenitor mass at the onset of collapse and the compactness parameter.

Cardall, Christian [ORNL] (ORCID:000000020086105X)↗

Further studies of ionization in interstellar clouds

Interferometric scans of the interstellar 7699-A line of K I or of the D1 line of Na I are reported for 14 stars. Along with results obtained recently by others for the column densities of H I, H2, or Na I toward a larger number of stars, these results are added to a previous compilation of such data, and are used to reanalyze the relations among the well-correlated K I, Na I, and total hydrogen column densities. The estimated depletion factors of both K and Na are about 3 to 4. Alternatively, the fractional ionization will be at least 0.0009 in these relatively low-density clouds if the K and Na abundances are not to exceed their solar values. Photoionization of the heavy elements by starlight can account for the greater part of this ionization if interstellar carbon is undepleted. The influence of temperature effects and of gas-phase chemical reactions on the approximately quadratic variations of the K I and Na I column densities with the total hydrogen column density is discussed.

Hobbs, L. M.↗

Estimating GATE rainfall with geosynchronous satellite images

A method of estimating GATE rainfall from either visible or infrared images of geosynchronous satellites is described. Rain is estimated from cumulonimbus cloud area by the equation R = a sub 0 A + a sub 1 dA/dt, where R is volumetric rainfall, A cloud area, t time, and a sub 0 and a sub 1 are constants. Rainfall, calculated from 5.3 cm ship radar, and cloud area are measured from clouds in the tropical North Atlantic. The constants a sub 0 and a sub 1 are fit to these measurements by the least-squares method. Hourly estimates by the infrared version of this technique correlate well (correlation coefficient of 0.84) with rain totals derived from composited radar for an area of 100,000 sq km. The accuracy of this method is described and compared to that of another technique using geosynchronous satellite images. It is concluded that this technique provides useful estimates of tropical oceanic rainfall on a convective scale.

Stout, J. E.↗

Off-design correlation for losses due to part-span dampers on transonic rotors

Experimental data from 10 transonic fan rotors were used to correlate losses created by part-span dampers located near the midchord position on the rotor blades. The design tip speed of these rotors varied from 419 to 425 m/sec, and the design pressure ratio varied from 1.6 to 2.0. Additional loss caused by the dampers for operating conditions between 50 and 100 percent of design speed were correlated with relevant aerodynamic and geometric parameters. The resulting correlation predicts the variation of total-pressure-loss coefficient in the damper region to a good approximation.

Roberts, W. B.↗

The properties of clusters in the gas phase. IV - Complexes of H2O and HNOx clustering on NOx/-/

Thermodynamic quantities for the gas-phase clustering equilibria of NO2(-) and NO3(-) were determined with high-pressure mass spectrometry. A comparison of values of the free energy of hydration derived from the data shows good agreement with formerly reported values at 296 K. New data for larger NO2(-) and NO3(-) hydrates as well as NO2(-)(HNO2)n were obtained in this study. To aid in understanding the bonding and stability of the hydrates of nitrite and nitrate ions, CNDO/2 calculations were performed, and the results are discussed. A correlation between the aqueous-phase total hydration enthalpy of a single ion and its gas-phase hydration enthalpy was obtained. Atmospheric implications of the data are also briefly discussed.

Lee, N.↗

Experimental investigation of reactive turbulent recirculating jet mixing in a dump

A ducted, subsonic, hydrogen air turbulent jet mixing flowfield was investigated, both with and without combustion. The geometric configuration was representative of a sudden expansion or dump combustor, with a central air jet surrounded by a low velocity hydrogen stream at an overall equivalence ratio of 0.12. The ratio of the duct to inner nozzle diameter was 2.5. Radial distributions of mean axial and radial velocity, axial and radial turbulent intensity, velocity cross correlation, gas composition, static temperature and total pressure, as well as axial distributions of wall static pressure, were obtained for axial stations from zero to six duct diameters from the combustor entrance. The data indicate that mixing is slower in the chemically reactive flow field than in the nonreactive flow field, and that the presence of combustion has a significant effect on the size and location of the recirculation zone within the mixing duct.

Smith, G. D.↗

The concentration and isotopic composition of hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen in carbonaceous meteorites

Stepwise pyrolysis was used to extract H2, N2 and C from powdered meteorites and from meteorite residues resulting from partial dissolution in aqueous HF or from reaction with HF-HCl solutions. Concentrations and isotopic compositions were determined for the cases of the carbonaceous chondrites Orgueil, Murray, Murchison, Renazzo and Cold Bokkeveld. Acidification of the meteorites removed the organic sources of H2, so that H2 in the HF-HCl acid residues came mostly from the insoluble organic matter making up 70-80% of the total carbon in carbonaceous meteorites. Good correlation is found between delta-D and the concentration of H2 in the acid residues, but no correlation exists between the delta-D, delta-C-13 and delta-N-15 in them. A model is proposed for both the high delta-D values and the relationship between those values and the H2 concentration.

Robert, F.↗

Electrolyte management in porous battery components. Static measurements

The interaction between the porous hydrogen and nickel electrodes and microporous separator with respect to electrolyte management in nickel/hydrogen cells has been investigated. The distribution of electrolyte among the components has been measured and correlated with the pore size distributions, total void volume, and resistance of a variety of electrodes and separators. Calculations are used to show the effects of systematically varying these properties.

Abbey, K. M.↗

Improved HIRS2/MSU soundings using tropopause information

In the GLAS physical retrieval scheme, all temperature profiles are expressed as an expansion about a global mean using empirical orthogonal functions derived from a sample of radiosondes. Total ozone burden, a parameter highly correlated with tropopause height, should be useful in improving sounding accuracy. The ability to estimate tropopause information from layer mean temperatures suggests incorporating the layer mean temperatures estimated from the sounding itself to give estimates of tropopause pressure and temperature. While information completely independent of sounding and first guess data is preferable, additional information is in fact added to the system by the statistical relationships between tropopause temperature and pressure and layer mean temperature profiles. This should not be confused with use of statistical relationships between temperature profiles and satellite observations, which form the basis of a statistical retrieval system but is in no way used in the physical retrieval scheme.

Susskind, J.↗

Lightning/rainfall relationships during COHMEX

Initial results of relationships between cloud-to-ground lightning and radar-derived precipitation measurements in air mass thunderstorms (multi- and single cell) occurring over the Southeastern United States are presented. Buoyancy values computed from soundings are used to estimate wind shear, the energy available to storms, and the ability of the environment to support strong updrafts. Precipitation measurements are utilized for sampling the rainfall history of entire storm life cycles. It is shown that the average rain volume per ground discharge decreases as the buoyancy increases; this is attributed to stronger updrafts elevating mass to higher levels in the storm where more frequent ice particle interactions may play a major role in separating charge leading to enhanced lightning activity. Thus, total lightning rates are expected to correlate better with rainfall production.

Goodman, S. J.↗

Inclusive inelastic scattering of heavy ions and nuclear correlations

Calculations of inclusive inelastic scattering distributions for heavy ion collisions are considered within the high energy optical model. Using ground state sum rules, the inclusive projectile and complete projectile-target inelastic angular distributions are treated in both independent particle and correlated nuclear models. Comparisons between the models introduced are made for alpha particles colliding with He-4, C-12, and O-16 targets and protons colliding with O-16. Results indicate that correlations contribute significantly, at small momentum transfers, to the inelastic sum. Correlation effects are hidden, however, when total scattering distributions are considered because of the dominance of elastic scattering at small momentum transfers.

Cucinotta, Francis A.↗

Effects of low Earth orbit environment on the Long Duration Exposure Facility thermal control coatings

One of the benefits of the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was the opportunity to study the before and after effects of low earth orbit space environment on the spacecraft thermal control coatings. Since the LDEF's thermal control was totally passive by design, the selection of the external surface absorptivity to emissivity ratio (alpha/epsilon) and the ability for the coating to retain the alpha/epsilon over time was an important consideration in the thermal design of the LDEF. The primary surface coating chosen for the LDEF structure was clear chromic anodized aluminum with an average design alpha/epsilon of 0.32/0.16. External surface absorptivity (alpha) and emissivity (epsilon) were measured on all intercostals, longerons, tray mounting flanges, thermal control panels, and a limited number of experiment surface coatings after the experiment trays were removed from the LDEF structure. All surface alpha/epsilon measurements were made using portable hand held infrared and solar spectrum reflectometers. The absorptivity measurements were taken with a Devices and Services SSR-ER version 5.0 solar spectra reflectometer which has a stated uncertainty of +/- 0.01, and all normal emissivity measurements were made using the Gier Dunkle DB-100 infrared reflectometer also with a stated uncertainty of +/- 0.01. Both instruments were calibrated in the laboratory by LaRC instrumentation personnel before being used in the field at KSC. A combined total of 733 measurements were taken on the anodized aluminum hardware which included the structure (intercostals, longerons, and center ring), earth and space end thermal control panels, and experiment tray mounting flanges. The facility thermal control coatings measured in this survey cover 33 percent of the total exposed LDEF surface area. To correlate low earth orbit environmental effects on the anodized coatings, measurements were taken in both exposed and unexposed surfaces and compared to quality assurance (QA) measurements taken on the new surfaces at the time of hardware fabrication in 1978. The results of investigation are presented.

Sampair, Thomas R.↗

Study of a cesium plasma as a selective emitter for thermophotovoltaic applications

This experimental study evaluates the potential of a cesium plasma as an emitter for a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion system. A cesium plasma, as a result of the ground-state transitions of its single outer-shell electron, produces large amounts of radiation in the 850-890-nm wavelength region. This would provide excellent coupling to silicon, gallium arsenide, and indium phosphide photovoltaic cells. Measurements of the radiative efficiency, the sum of the power at the 852 and 894 nm wavelengths relative to the total emitted power, were made and correlated to the plasma operating variables. It was determined that, for atomic density in the range (3-6) x 10 exp 21/cu cm and electron temperature in the range 2000-3000 K, radiative efficiencies in excess of 70 percent are attainable. This would indicate that a cesium plasma with its selective emission characteristics and low electron operating temperatures of 2000-3000 K would be an excellent candidate as an emitter in a TPV system.

Lowe, R.↗

Radio continuum and X-ray properties of the coronae of RS Canum Venaticorum and related active binary systems

Data from circular polarization measurements are reported which yield radio-continuum and X-ray characterizations of the coronae of active binaries including RS CVn. The circular polarization measurements are taken at 6 cm for 28 binary systems detected at flux densities of more than 0.7 mJy, and the data are examined in conjunction with those by Drake et al. (1989). Optical positions are derived for 8 RS CVn objects, three previous detections are confirmed, and seven sources are shown to have circular polarization at levels of 2-13 percent. A total of 49 X-ray sources are confirmed in a total of 190 positions, and the correlation between X-ray and radio emissions is analyzed. No observational evidence exists to support the notion that radio and X-ray emissions are due to nonthermal electrons, and the data provide evidence for and against thermal gyrosynchrotron radio emission.

Drake, Stephen A.↗