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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 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

Validation of MODIS Aerosol Retrievals during PRIDE

The Puerto Rico Dust Experiment (PRIDE) was held in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico from June 26 to July 24, 2000. It was intended to study the radiative and microphysical properties of Saharan dust transported into Puerto Rico. PRIDE had the unique distinction of being the first major field experiment to allow direct comparison of aerosol retrievals from MODIS (MODerate Imaging Spectro-radiometer - aboard the Terra satellite) with data from a variety of ground, shipboard and air-based instruments. Over the ocean the MODIS algorithm retrieves optical depth as well as information about the aerosol's size. During PRIDE, MODIS passed over Roosevelt Roads approximately once per day during daylight hours. Due to sunglint and clouds over Puerto Rico, aerosol retrievals can be made from only about half the MODIS scenes. In this study we try to "validate" our aerosol retrievals by comparing to measurements taken by sun-photometers from multiple platforms, including: Cimel (AERONET) from the ground, Microtops (handheld) from ground and ship, and the NASA-Ames sunphotometer from the air.

Levy, R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Geologic mapping in Death Valley, California/Nevada using NASA/JPL airborne systems (AVIRIS, TIMS, and AIRSAR)

A multi-sensor aircraft campaign called the Geologic Remote Sensing Field Experiment (GRSFE) conducted during 1989 resulted in acquisition of high quality multispectral images in the visible, near infrared, shortwave infrared, thermal infrared, and microwave regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The airborne data sets include the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS), and the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Ancillary data include Landsat Thematic Mapper, laboratory and field spectral measurements, and traditional geologic mapping. The GRSFE data for a site in the northern Death Valley, (California and Nevada) region were calibrated to physical units and geometrically registered to a map base. Various aspects of this experiment are briefly discussed.

Kruse, Fred A.↗
DOE OSTI2024

How do drought and heat affect the response of soybean seed yield to elevated O 3 ? An analysis of 15 seasons of free–air O 3 concentration enrichment studies

The coincidence of rising ozone concentrations ([O 3 ]), increasing global temperatures, and drought episodes is expected to become more intense and frequent in the future. A better understanding of the responses of crop yield to elevated [O 3 ] under different levels of drought and high temperature stress is, therefore, critical for projecting future food production potential. Using a 15-year open-air field experiment in central Illinois, we assessed the impacts of elevated [O 3 ] coupled with variation in growing season temperature and water availability on soybean seed yield. Thirteen soybean cultivars were exposed to a wide range of season-long elevated [O 3 ] in the field using free-air O 3 concentration enrichment. Elevated [O3] treatments reduced soybean seed yield from as little as 5.3% in 2005 to 35.2% in 2010. Although cultivars differed in yield response to elevated [O 3 ] (R), ranging from 17.5% to –76.4%, there was a significant negative correlation between R and O 3 dosage. Soybean cultivars showed greater seed yield losses to elevated [O 3 ] when grown at drier or hotter conditions compared to wetter or cooler years, because the hotter and drier conditions were associated with greater O 3 treatment. However, year-to-year variation in weather conditions did not influence the sensitivity of soybean seed yield to a given increase in [O 3 ]. Collectively, this study quantitatively demonstrates that, although drought conditions or warmer temperatures led to greater O 3 treatment concentrations and O 3 -induced seed yield reduction, drought and temperature stress did not alter soybean's sensitivity to O 3 . Our results have important implications for modeling the effects of rising O 3 pollution on crops and suggest that altering irrigation practices to mitigate O 3 stress may not be effective in reducing crop sensitivity to O 3 .

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1976

Observations of the interplanetary magnetic field between 0.46 and 1 A.U. by the Mariner 10 spacecraft

Almost continuous measurement of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) at a sampling rate of 25 vectors/sec was performed by the magnetic field experiment onboard the Mariner 10 spacecraft during the period November 3, 1973 to April 14, 1974, comprising approximately 5-2/3 solar rotations and extending in radial distance from the sun from 1 to 0.46 AU. A clearly discernible two-sector pattern of field polarity was observed during the last 3-1/2 months of the period, with the dominant polarity toward the sun below the solar equatorial plane. Two compound high-speed solar wind streams were also present during this period, one in each magnetic field sector. Relative fluctuations of the field in magnitude and direction were found to have large time variations, but on average the relative magnitude fluctuations were approximately constant over the range of heliocentric distance covered while the relative directional fluctuations showed a slight decrease on average with increasing distance. The occurrence rate of directional discontinuities was also found to decrease with increasing radial distance from the sun.

Behannon, K. W.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Coordinated observations of the magnetosphere - The development of a substorm.

Coordinated observations of a substorm are reported by using data from all-sky camera (ASCA) stations near the northern conjugate of the ATS 5 geostationary satellite, plasma and magnetic-field experiments on the ATS 5 satellite, Vela 5B at 18 earth radii in the magnetotail, the Heos 1 interplanetary probe, and ground-based magnetograms. The substorm event occurred after a very quiet day and was preceded by a development period during which the interplanetary field turned southward and the plasma energy density increased near the earth on the nightside. This period was also evidenced by a depression of the midlatitude H component of the geomagnetic field at the earth's surface. The auroral breakup was preceded by the appearance of quiet arcs, the leveling off of the plasma energy density increase at ATS, and the disappearance of the tail plasma at 18 earth radii.

Mende, S. B.↗
NASA NTRS1979

The intertropical convergence zone experiment: Background and summary

The Intertropical Convergence Zone Experiment (ITCZ) was the first in an anticipated series of observational programs designed to explore the nature and magnitude of troposphere-stratosphere exchange processes. The overall meteorological background and motivations for a measurement program in the ITCZ are summarized and the nature of the field experiments are briefly described.

Holton, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The effect of wind and currents on gas exchange in an estuarine system

The objectives were to develop a non-volatile tracer to use in gas exchange experiments in laterally unconfined systems and to study applications of deliberate tracers in limnology and oceanography. Progress was made on both fronts but work on the development of the non-volatile tracer proved to be more difficult and labor intensive that anticipated so no field experiments using non-volatile tracers was performed as yet. In the search for a suitable non-volatile tracer for an ocean scale gas exchange experiment a tracer was discovered which does not have the required sensitivity for a large scale experiment, but is very easy to analyze and will be well suited for smaller experiments such as gas exchange determinations on rivers and streams. Sulfur hexafluoride, SF6, was used successfully as a volatile tracer along with tritium as a non-volatile tracer to study gas exchange rates from a primary stream. This is the first gas exchange experiment in which gas exchange rates were determined on a head water stream where significant groundwater input occurs along the reach. In conjunction with SF6, Radon-222 measurements were performed on the groundwater and in the stream. The feasibility of using a combination of SF6 and radon is being studied to determine groundwater inputs and gas exchange of rates in streams with significant groundwater input without using a non-volatile tracer.

Broecker, W. S.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Measuring dynamics of differentially rotating, unmagnetized, free-boundary plasma produced by soft x-ray irradiation

We present results from a new experiment, fielded on the MAGPIE pulsed power generator, producing a rotating, boundary-free plasma with no pre-imposed magnetic field. Angular momentum is introduced to the rotating system by the oblique collision of multiple plasma flows, which are driven by x-ray ablation of solid targets using the soft x-rays emitted from the implosion of wire array z-pinches. This produces a hydrodynamically stable plasma which undergoes ~2-3 rotations over the duration of the experiment, significantly more than previous pulsed-power platforms. Estimating the angular frequency from the electron density profile in the inner part of the rotating plasma shows that it has a quasi-Keplerian rotation profile. The system also allows for the addition of a controllable magnetic field. This, combined with the sufficiently large Reynolds (~10 5 ) and magnetic Reynolds (~10) numbers, will enable investigation of the effect of magnetic field on the structure and stability of the rotating plasma.

Physics - Plasma physics↗
NASA NTRS2005

Change Detection Experiments Using Low Cost UAVs

This paper presents the progress in the development of a low-cost change-detection system. This system is being developed to provide users with the ability to use a low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and image processing system that can detect changes in specific fixed ground locations using video provided by an autonomous UAV. The results of field experiments conducted with the US Army at Ft. A.P.Hill are presented.

Logan, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Collisionless shock waves in space - A very high beta structure

Measurements from six OGO-5 particle and field experiments are used to examine the structure of the earth's bow shock during a period of extremely high beta (the ratio of plasma thermal to magnetic energy density), as determined from simultaneous measurements of the upstream plasma on board the HEOS satellite. Even though the interplanetary field is nearly perpendicular to the shock normal, the shock is extremely turbulent. Large field increases are observed up to a factor of 20 above the upstream values. Ahead of these large enhancements, smaller magnetic effects accompanied by electrostatic noise, electron heating, and ion deflection are observed for several minutes. These observations suggest that a steady-state shock may not be able to form at very high beta. Further, they show that while the magnetic energy density may be relatively unimportant in the upstream flow, it can become very significant within the shock structure, and hence the magnetic field should not be ignored in theoretical treatments of very high beta shocks.

Formisano, V.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Crystalline-silicon reliability lessons for thin-film modules

Key reliability and engineering lessons learned from the 10-year history of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Flat-Plate Solar Array Project are presented and analyzed. Particular emphasis is placed on lessons applicable to the evolving new thin-film cell and module technologies and the organizations involved with these technologies. The user-specific demand for reliability is a strong function of the application, its location, and its expected duration. Lessons relative to effective means of specifying reliability are described, and commonly used test requirements are assessed from the standpoint of which are the most troublesome to pass, and which correlate best with field experience. Module design lessons are also summarized, including the significance of the most frequently encountered failure mechanisms and the role of encapsulant and cell reliability in determining module reliability. Lessons pertaining to research, design, and test approaches include the historical role and usefulness of qualification tests and field tests.

Ross, Ronald G., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2013

PV Reliability Development Lessons from JPL's Flat Plate Solar Array Project

Key reliability and engineering lessons learned from the 20-year history of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Flat-Plate Solar Array Project and thin film module reliability research activities are presented and analyzed. Particular emphasis is placed on lessons applicable to evolving new module technologies and the organizations involved with these technologies. The user-specific demand for reliability is a strong function of the application, its location, and its expected duration. Lessons relative to effective means of specifying reliability are described, and commonly used test requirements are assessed from the standpoint of which are the most troublesome to pass, and which correlate best with field experience. Module design lessons are also summarized, including the significance of the most frequently encountered failure mechanisms and the role of encapsulate and cell reliability in determining module reliability. Lessons pertaining to research, design, and test approaches include the historical role and usefulness of qualification tests and field tests.

photovoltaics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Impact of moisture on microbial decomposition phenotypes and enzyme dynamics

Soil organic matter decomposition is a complex process reflecting microbial composition and environmental conditions. Moisture can modulate the connectivity and interactions of microbes. Due to heterogeneity, a deeper understanding of the influence of soil moisture on the dynamics of organic matter decomposition and resultant phenotypes remains a challenge. Soils from a long-term field experiment exposed to high and low moisture treatments were incubated in the laboratory to investigate organic matter decomposition using chitin as a model substrate. By combining enzymatic assays, biomass measurements, and microbial enrichment via activity-based probes, we determined the microbial functional response to chitin amendments and field moisture treatments at both the community and cell scales. Chitinolytic activities showed significant responses to the amendment of chitin, independent of differences in field moisture treatments. However, for other measurements of carbon metabolism and cellular functions, soils from high moisture field treatments had greater potential enzyme activity than soils from low moisture field treatments. A cell tagging approach was used to enrich and quantify bacterial taxa that are actively producing chitin-degrading enzymes. By integrating organism, community, and soil core measurements we show that (i) a small subset of taxa compose the majority (>50%) of chitinase production despite broad functional redundancy, (ii) the identity of key chitin degraders varies with moisture level, and (iii) extracellular enzymes that are not cell-associated account for most potential chitinase activity measured in field soil.

activity-based probes↗
DOE OSTI2020

Modeling of fluid injection-induced fault reactivation using coupled fluid flow and mechanical interface model

The present study is aimed at developing a numerical model to reproduce coupled hydro-mechanical processes associated with fault reactivation by fluid injection in low permeability rock, as part of the DECOVALEX-2019 project Task B. We proposed a modeling approach for simulating the processes using the TOUGH-FLAC simulator, and modeled a fault reactivation experiment conducted at Mont Terri Rock Laboratory in Switzerland. The first step of the study involved benchmark calculations considering a simplified fault plane and geometry. Fluid flow along a fault was modeled using elements of aperture-sized thickness on the basis of Darcy's law and the cubic law in TOUGH2, whereas the mechanical behavior of a single fault was represented by zero-thickness interface elements in FLAC3D upon which a slip and/or separation is allowed. A methodology to connect a TOUGH2 volume element to a FLAC3D interface element was developed for handling the hydro-mechanical interactions on the fault during fluid injection. Two different fault models for describing the evolutions of hydraulic aperture by elastic fracture opening and failure-induced aperture increase were considered in the benchmark calculations. In the coupling process, the changes in geometrical features and hydrological properties induced by mechanical deformation were continuously updated. The transient responses of the fault and host rock to stepwise pressurization were examined during the simulation. The hydro-mechanical behavior, including the injection flow rate, pressure distribution around the borehole, stress conditions, and displacements in normal and shear directions were monitored in the surrounding rock and along the fault. The results of benchmark calculations suggest that the developed model reasonably represents the hydro-mechanical behavior of a fault and the surrounding rock. This modeling approach was applied to the fault reactivation experiment of the Mont Terri Rock Laboratory. In this interpretive modeling, a parametric study was conducted to examine the effects of input parameters regarding in situ stress and fault properties on the hydro-mechanical responses of the fault to water injection. Then, an optimal parameter set to reproduce the field experiment results was chosen by trial-and-error. The injection flow rate and pressure response during fault reactivation closely matched those obtained at the site, which indicates the capability of the model to appropriately capture the progressive pathway evolution during fault reactivation tests at the site. Finally, the anchor displacements were overestimated by the model, but a fair agreement was obtained in terms of the order of magnitude and the variation tendency.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

First Ever Polymer Flood Field Pilot to Enhance the Recovery of Heavy Oils on Alaska North Slope – Producer Responses and Operational Lessons Learned

The US Department of Energy and Hilcorp Alaska, LLC are jointly cosponsoring a field pilot project entitled “First Ever Field Pilot on Alaska’s North Slope to Validate the Use of Polymer Floods for Heavy Oil Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).” The objective of this pilot is to perform a field experiment to validate the use of an advanced polymer flooding technology to unlock the vast heavy oil resources on Alaska North Slope (ANS). Two pairs of horizontal injection and production wells have been deployed in an isolated fault block of the Schrader Bluff heavy oil reservoir at the Milne Point Field to conduct a polymer flood pilot which was designed to acquire field performance data to optimize polymer flood design in the Schrader Bluff heavy oil reservoirs on ANS. Hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) polymer injection started on August 28, 2018 using a custom made polymer mixing and pumping unit. Polymer solution properties such as concentration, viscosity, and filter ratio, have been closely monitored and adjusted as necessary. Operational procedures have been improved to ensure adequate injectivity and polymer propagation through the formation. Oil and water production is tested frequently to monitor water cut performance, and produced water is sampled and analyzed for polymer content. Tracers were pumped pre and post polymer injection startup to compare polymer flood breakthrough timing and sweep efficiency. Polymer injectivity of the horizontal wells drilled in the Schrader Bluff NB sand is found to be sufficient to replace the reservoir production voidage although there were some declines as high viscosity polymer swept the near wellbore region. Production data show significant reduction in water cut and the oil production rate has stabilized. No polymer production has been confirmed from the two horizontal producers after 22 months of polymer injection into the two supporting horizontal injectors. Tracer data show very low sweep efficiencies with waterflood alone, whereas significant improvement has been achieved with polymer flood. Many operational lessons have been learned and improvements have been made regarding polymer mixing, pumping, and onsite quality control, particularly in a challenging Arctic environment. Adequate polymer injection rate can be achieved with diligent monitoring and quality assurance of the properties of the injected polymer solution.

Ning, Samson↗
NASA NTRS1979

Magnetic field studies at Jupiter by Voyager 2 - Preliminary results

The Voyager 2 magnetic field experiment, for which the instrumentation is identical to that on Voyager 1, operated flawlessly throughout the second Jupiter encounter. The paper presents a brief overview of the results obtained to date on the Jovian magnetosphere, the bow shock, the magnetopause, and the extended magnetic tail. The results and the magnetic field geometry confirm the earlier conclusion from Voyager 1 that Jupiter has an enormous magnetic tail, approximately 300-400 Jupiter radii in diameter, trailing behind the planet with respect to the supersonic flow of the solar wind. Additional observations of the distortion of the inner magnetosphere by a concentrated plasma show a spatial merging of the equatorial magnetodisk current with the current sheet in the magnetic tail. Disturbances near Ganymede are discussed.

Ness, N. F.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Calibration, navigation, and registration of MAMS data for FIFE

The International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) was conducted to study the interaction of the atmosphere with the land surface and the research problems associated with the interpretation of satellite data over the Earth's land surface. The experimental objectives of the First ISLSCP Field Experiment (FIFE) were the simultaneous acquisition of satellite, atmospheric, and surface data and to use these data to understand the processes controlling energy/mass exchange at the surface. The experiment site is a 15 x 15 km area southeast of Manhattan, Kansas, intersected by Interstate 70 and Kansas highway 177. The Konza Prairie portion is 5 x 5 km and is a controlled experiment site consisting primarily of native tall grass prairie vegetation. The remainder of the site is grazing and farm land with trees along creek beds that are scattered over the area. Airborne multispectral imagery from the Multispectral Atmospheric Mapping Sensor (MAMS) was collected over this region on two days during Intensive Field Campaign-1 (1FC-1) to study the time and space variability of remotely-sensed geophysical parameters. These datasets consist of multiple overflights covering about a 60-min period during late morning on June 4, 1987 and shortly after dark on the following day. Image data from each overpass were calibrated and Earth located with respect to each other using aircraft inertial navigation system parameters and ground control points. These were the first MAMS flights made with 10-bit thermal data.

Jedlovec, G. J.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Experiment of Sea Breeze Convection, Aerosols, Precipitation, and Environment (ESCAPE)

Convective clouds play an important role in Earth’s climate system and are a known source of extreme weather. Gaps in our understanding of convective vertical motions, microphysics, and precipitation across a full range of aerosol and meteorological regimes continue to limit our ability to predict the occurrence and intensity of these cloud systems. To improve predictability, the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored a large field experiment entitled “Experiment of Sea Breeze Convection, Aerosols, Precipitation, and Environment (ESCAPE).” ESCAPE took place between 30 May and 30 September 2022 in the vicinity of Houston, Texas, because this area frequently experiences isolated deep convection that interacts with the region’s mesoscale circulations and its range of aerosol conditions. ESCAPE focused on collecting observations of isolated deep convection through innovative sampling and developing novel analysis techniques. This included the deployment of two research aircraft, the National Research Council of Canada Convair-580 and the Stratton Park Engineering Company Learjet, which combined conducted 24 research flights from 30 May to 17 June. On the ground, three mobile X-band radars and one mobile Doppler lidar truck equipped with soundings were deployed from 30 May to 28 June. From 1 August to 30 September 2022, a dual-polarization C-band radar was deployed and operated using a novel, multisensor agile adaptive sampling strategy to track the entire life cycle of isolated convective clouds. Analysis of the ESCAPE observations has already yielded preliminary findings on how aerosols and environmental conditions impact the convective life cycle.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗