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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

A conservative implicit-PIC scheme for the hybrid kinetic-ion fluid-electron plasma model on curvilinear meshes

We report that the hybrid kinetic-ion fluid-electron plasma model is widely used to study challenging multi-scale problems in space and laboratory plasma physics. Here, a novel conservative scheme for this model employing implicit particle-in-cell techniques is extended to arbitrary coordinate systems via curvilinear maps from logical to physical space. The scheme features a fully non-linear electromagnetic formulation with a multi-rate time advance - including sub-cycling and orbit-averaging for the kinetic ions. By careful choice of compatible particle-based kinetic-ion and mesh-based fluid-electron discretizations in curvilinear coordinates, as well as particle-mesh interpolations and implicit midpoint time advance, the scheme is proven to conserve total energy for arbitrary curvilinear meshes. In the electrostatic limit, the method is also proven to conserve total momentum for arbitrary curvilinear meshes. Although momentum is not conserved for arbitrary curvilinear meshes in the electromagnetic case, it is for an important subset of Cartesian tensor-packed meshes. The scheme and its novel conservation properties are demonstrated for several challenging numerical problems using different curvilinear meshes, including a merging flux-rope simulation for a space weather application, and a helical m = 1 mode simulation for magnetic fusion energy application.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Overview, Progress and Next Steps for Our Understanding of the Near-Earth Space Radiation and Plasma Environment: Science and Applications

The Near-Earth Space Radiation and Plasma Environment falls within the realm of G3 Cluster (G3 refers to ‘Near-Earth Radiation and Plasma Environment’ of the ‘Coupled Geospace System’) under the COSPAR (Committee On Space Research) /International Space Weather Action Teams (ISWAT) Initiative. The diverse and dynamic particle populations from this region pose challenges from both science and space weather-impact perspectives. The G3 cluster has intimate connections with solar, heliosphere clusters, and the other Geospace ones (G1, G2) through a chain of physical processes. This paper reviews recent scientific advances in understanding this complex space environment, identifies gaps in research and space weather applications, and maps out our recommendations on priorities for the next 5-10 years.

Zheng, Yihua↗
NASA NTRS2010

Application-Controlled Parallel Asynchronous Input/Output Utility

A software utility tool has been designed to alleviate file system I/O performance bottlenecks to which many high-end computing (HEC) applications fall prey because of the relatively large volume of data generated for a given amount of computational work. In an effort to reduce computing resource waste, and to improve sustained performance of these HEC applications, a lightweight software utility has been designed to circumvent bandwidth limitations of typical HEC file systems by exploiting the faster inter-processor bandwidth to move output data from compute nodes to designated I/O nodes as quickly as possible, thereby minimizing the I/O wait time. This utility has successfully demonstrated a significant performance improvement within a major NASA weather application.

Clune, Thomas↗
NASA NTRS2016

Cloud Tolerance of Remote-Sensing Technologies to Measure Land Surface Temperature

Conventional methods to estimate land surface temperature (LST) from space rely on the thermal infrared(TIR) spectral window and is limited to cloud-free scenes. To also provide LST estimates during periods with clouds, a new method was developed to estimate LST based on passive microwave(MW) observations. The MW-LST product is informed by six polar-orbiting satellites to create a global record with up to eight observations per day for each 0.25resolution grid box. For days with sufficient observations, a continuous diurnal temperature cycle (DTC) was fitted. The main characteristics of the DTC were scaled to match those of a geostationary TIR-LST product. This paper tests the cloud tolerance of the MW-LST product. In particular, we demonstrate its stable performance with respect to flux tower observation sites (four in Europe and nine in the United States), over a range of cloudiness conditions up to heavily overcast skies. The results show that TIR based LST has slightly better performance than MW-LST for clear-sky observations but suffers an increasing negative bias as cloud cover increases. This negative bias is caused by incomplete masking of cloud-covered areas within the TIR scene that affects many applications of TIR-LST. In contrast, for MW-LST we find no direct impact of clouds on its accuracy and bias. MW-LST can therefore be used to improve TIR cloud screening. Moreover, the ability to provide LST estimates for cloud-covered surfaces can help expand current clear-sky-only satellite retrieval products to all-weather applications.

polar-orbiting↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-29931-DND

The ACE science working group satellite concept calls for a combination of high spectral resolution aerosol lidar and a polarimeter able to determine vertical profiles of aerosol extinction and clouds. Here we discuss why an HSRL lidar is required to achieve these requirements. The primary advantage of an HSRL over an elastic backscatter lidar is that the HSRL channel allows for the independent retrieval of vertically resolved aerosol extinction without constraint. Not requiring a constraint means greater availability of retrievals in polar regions, on the night side, and in broken cloud situations, plus greater accuracy particularly in the lowest part of the atmosphere and in scenes with aerosol heterogeneity. Advantages go beyond the extinction products. Unlike attenuated backscatter, which is an integrated quantity, the aerosol backscatter coefficient depends only on the aerosol at a specific level in the atmosphere, making it preferable for use in quantitative applications. The aerosol backscatter coefficient is more accurate from an HSRL system compared to the retrieval from a single-channel system. This is because errors in both extinction and backscatter from a single-channel system increase with decreasing altitude, due to the need to accurately characterize the overlying attenuation. This means that an HSRL will also have more valid data in and near the boundary layer where aerosol is of primary interest for air quality and weather applications and for many climate objectives including aerosol-cloud interaction studies. Even cloud properties that do not directly use the HSRL capability (cloud phase and thin cirrus retrievals) benefit from the more accurate calibration of an HSRL system. The improved accuracy of backscatter and extinction also lead to better capabilities for aerosol typing, improved retrievals of aerosol radiative effect, and increased information content for combined lidar + polarimeter retrievals of profiles of microphysical properties such as vertically resolved effective radius.

S P Burton↗
DOE OSTI2025

A digital twin platform for building performance monitoring and optimization: Performance simulation and case studies

Advancements in sensor technology, data analytics, affordable compute, and communication infrastructure have paved the way for Digital Twin technology in optimizing building operations and controls. This study presents the development of an open and interoperable web-based Digital Twin platform for integrating diverse data streams and facilitating effective user interactions. The platform utilizes modern technologies for the web framework and time-series data management, ensuring scalability and responsiveness. The backend supports seamless integration of diverse data sources and emulators, incorporating data from building sensors and meters, external weather Application Programming Interfaces, and advanced EnergyPlus simulation models of the building and its energy systems including the Distributed Energy Resources that are formulated in Functional Mockup Units. A simulation case study was conducted with FlexLab, a test facility on Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory campus. The case study includes normal operations, Distributed Energy Resource integration, and power outage scenarios, to illustrate the Digital Twin’s ability to provide critical insights into energy performance and thermal resilience. The results demonstrated the platform’s potential as a decision-support tool for optimizing building energy performance and enhancing resilience against extreme weather events. Future work will focus on deploying the Digital Twin platform to a real building for field validation, extending its capabilities to cover more scenarios such as bidirectional Electric Vehicle interactions, and enhancing user engagement.

EnergyPlus↗
NASA NTRS2023

The Impact of Dimensionality Reduction of Ion Counts Distributions on Preserving Moments, With Applications to Data Compression

The field of space physics has a long history of utilizing dimensionality reduction methods to distill data, including but not limited to spherical harmonics, the Fourier Transform, and the wavelet transform. Here, we present a technique for performing dimensionality reduction on ion counts distributions from the Multiscale Mission/Fast Plasma Investigation (MMS/FPI) instrument using a data-adaptive method powered by neural networks. This has applications to both feeding low-dimensional parameterizations of the counts distributions into other machine learning algorithms, and the problem of data compression to reduce transmission volume for space missions. The algorithm presented here is lossy, and in this work, we present the technique of validating the reconstruction performance with calculated plasma moments under the argument that preserving the moments also preserves fluid-level physics, and in turn a degree of scientific validity. The method presented here is an improvement over other lossy compressions in loss-tolerant scenarios like the Multiscale Mission/Fast Plasma Investigation Fast Survey or in non-research space weather applications.

D. da Silva↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Probabilistic Model for Global EMIC Wave Activity Using Van Allen Probes Observations

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves play a key role in radiation belt dynamics through resonant interactions. However, their low occurrence probability, high variability, and spatial intermittency pose challenges for accurate modeling. In this study, we present a machine learning (ML)-based global EMIC wave model built on the entire data set from the Van Allen Probes mission. To capture the distinct statistical characteristics of wave occurrence and amplitude, the model is separated into two modules: an occurrence model trained using ML techniques, and a wave amplitude model sampled from observed probability distributions. The input parameters are limited to real-time or predictable variables to ensure practical applicability. Our model shows strong performance across the entire test set and demonstrates improved predictive capability over a baseline random occurrence model, particularly during quiet geomagnetic conditions. Evaluation during both quiet and active periods confirms the model's ability to represent the clustered and intermittent nature of EMIC wave activity. Furthermore, the model provides global estimates of wave power, enabling integration with radiation belt electron data and showing signatures consistent with wave-induced scattering. We found a good correlation between the global wave activity from the model and relativistic electron observation by Van Allen Probes, regardless of the availability of in situ wave observations. The modular structure of the model also allows for straightforward expansion for additional wave properties, such as wave frequency, which can be modeled independently. This flexible, event-sensitive approach offers a promising framework for data-driven radiation belt simulations and space weather applications.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Reducing Barriers in Space Weather Research and Operations with Next-Generation Simulation Services at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC)

Space weather forecasting capabilities are becoming increasingly important to the health of advanced technological infrastructure. The Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC, https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov) serves as a key liaison in the US space weather program between the research and operations communities by providing a wide range of tools and capabilities that help to evaluate, compare, exercise, and archive the results of simulations of a growing list of space weather models. With its unique toolset, CCMC supports space weather research and model development that advances our understanding of space weather phenomena and improves forecasting skill, while also facilitating development of space weather applications and deployment of operational capabilities. Guided by experience from over 20 years of providing simulation services, feedback from its research, operational and educational users world-wide, recommendations from CCMC Advisory Group and Programmatic Review Panel, the CCMC has begun work on the next generation system for its simulation services and model output archives. The new system has been envisioned to employ state-of-the-art technologies and standards to provide a user-oriented experience while improving ease of access, transparency, interoperability with partner systems, and enhancing reliability by incorporating advanced automation for performance monitoring and intelligent failover. In the presentation, we will give an overview of the current CCMC ecosystem and discuss updates to some of the key services of the system, including Runs-on-Request, Instant Runs, and Continuous Runs. We will also describe how a planned expansion and standardization of data archival activities will enhance the role of CCMC as a world-class provider of heliophysics information for the research and analysis of space weather. It is our hope that this evolution of the services can further reduce the barriers and burdens on researchers, forecasters and decision makers who rely on CCMC for their daily research and operations.

Space Weather↗
DOE OSTI2025

Randomized Preconditioned Solvers for Strong Constraint 4D-Var Data Assimilation

The Strong Constraint 4D Variational (SC-4DVAR) data assimilation method is widely used in climate and weather applications. SC-4DVAR involves solving a minimization problem to compute the maximum a posteriori estimate, which we tackle using the Gauss-Newton method. The computation of the descent direction is expensive since it involves the solution of a large-scale and potentially ill-conditioned linear system, solved using the preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG) method. Here, to address this cost, we efficiently construct scalable preconditioners using three different randomization techniques, which all rely on a certain low-rank structure involving the Gauss-Newton Hessian. The proposed techniques come with theoretical guarantees on the condition number, and at the same time, are amenable to parallelization. We also develop an adaptive approach to estimate the sketch size and choose between the reuse or recomputation of the preconditioner. We demonstrate the performance and effectiveness of our methodology on two representative model problems—the Burgers and barotropic vorticity equation—showing a drastic reduction in both the number of PCG iterations and the number of Gauss-Newton Hessian products after including the preconditioner construction cost.

Gauss-Newton↗
DOE OSTI2022

Meso-Scale Electrodynamic Coupling of the Earth Magnetosphere-Ionosphere System

Within the fully integrated magnetosphere-ionosphere system, many electrodynamic processes interact with each other. We review recent advances in understanding three major meso-scale coupling processes within the system: the transient field-aligned currents (FACs), mid-latitude plasma convection, and auroral particle precipitation. (1) Transient FACs arise due to disturbances from either dayside or nightside magnetosphere. As the interplanetary shocks suddenly compress the dayside magnetosphere, short-lived FACs are induced at high latitudes with their polarity successively changing. Magnetotail dynamics, such as substorm injections, can also disturb the current structures, leading to the formation of substorm current wedges and ring current disruption. (2) The mid-latitude plasma convection is closely associated with electric fields in the system. Recent studies have unraveled some important features and mechanisms of subauroral fast flows. (3) Charged particles, while drifting around the Earth, often experience precipitating loss down to the upper atmosphere, enhancing the auroral conductivity. Recent studies have been devoted to developing more self-consistent geospace circulation models by including a better representation of the auroral conductance. It is expected that including these new advances in geospace circulation models could promisingly strengthen their forecasting capability in space weather applications. The remaining challenges especially in the global modeling of the circulation system are also discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Integrated Evaporator for Efficient Solar-Driven Interfacial Steam Generation

Solar-driven interfacial steam generation is a promising technique for clean water production as it can minimize thermal loss by localizing solar-to-heat conversion at the air/liquid interface. Here we report an integrated solar-evaporator by partially growing two-dimensional polypyrrole microsheets within a melamine foam through chemical vapor polymerization. These microsheets can induce multiple light reflections within the foam, enable omnidirectional light absorption, provide abundant surfaces to promote heat transfer, and achieve spatially-defined hydrophobicity to facilitate vapor escape. Meanwhile, the inherent hydrophilicity of the bottom part of the foam promotes spontaneous upward water transport and suppresses heat loss. The composite foam exhibits an excellent apparent evaporation rate of ~2 kg/(m 2 ·h) and solar-to-vapor efficiency of ~91%. Here, the combined advantages of large surface area, high efficiency, low cost, all weather application, excellent durability, and scalable manufacturing make our integrated design promising for fabricating large-scale solar steam generation systems that are suitable for practical clean water production.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Medium Energy Electron Flux in Earth's Outer Radiation Belt (MERLIN): A Machine Learning Model

The radiation belts of the Earth, filled with energetic electrons, comprise complex and dynamic systems that pose a significant threat to satellite operation. While various models of electron flux both for low and relativistic energies have been developed, the behavior of medium energy (120–600 keV) electrons, especially in the MEO region, remains poorly quantified. At these energies, electrons are driven by both convective and diffusive transport, and their prediction usually requires sophisticated 4D modeling codes. In this paper, we present an alternative approach using the Light Gradient Boosting (LightGBM) machine learning algorithm. The Medium Energy electRon fLux In Earth's outer radiatioN belt (MERLIN) model takes as input the satellite position, a combination of geomagnetic indices and solar wind parameters including the time history of velocity, and does not use persistence. MERLIN is trained on >15 years of the GPS electron flux data and tested on more than 1.5 years of measurements. Tenfold cross validation yields that the model predicts the MEO radiation environment well, both in terms of dynamics and amplitudes o f flux. Evaluation on the test set shows high correlation between the predicted and observed electron flux (0.8) and low values of absolute error. The MERLIN model can have wide space weather applications, providing information for the scientific community in the form of radiation belts reconstructions, as well as industry for satellite mission design, nowcast of the MEO environment, and surface charging analysis.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

A New Phase for Space Weather

As we move into the declining phase of solar cycle 25, the sunspot number is going down but space weather impacts are not disappearing. Solar energetic particle events, large x-ray flares, and geomagnetic storms are still happening and the declining phase will bring a different balance of hazards. The need for space weather science, space weather applications, and an interface between research, application, and stakeholder communities has not passed. Observations and insights from solar cycle 25 will continue to help us prepare for solar cycle 26, so that we approach the next solar maximum with better predictions, better understanding of outcomes, and a stronger community enabling more confident mitigation and clearer outreach.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
NASA NTRS1975

A revolutionary and operational tethered aerostat system illustrating new LTA technology

An operational tethered aerostat system, which demonstrates utility of LTA systems, is described. It was made possible by development of a reliable tethered aerostat that is used to support broadcast equipment at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Two elements of the TCOM system, the aerostat and mooring station, are particularly relevant to the LTA Workshop. They demonstrate the feasibility of using LTA vehicles in real, operational, all-weather applications and, in addition, illustrate an advance in the overall technology base of LTA. The aerostat and the mooring station, including their technical design features and demonstrated performance characteristics, are described.

Menke, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

On the Importance of the Flare's Late Phase for the Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Irradiance

The new solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance observations from NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) have revealed a new class of solar flares that are referred to as late phase flares. These flares are characterized by the hot 2-5 MK coronal emissions (e.g., Fe XVI 33.5 nm) showing large secondary peaks that appear many minutes to hours after an eruptive flare event. In contrast, the cool 0.7-1.5 MK coronal emissions (e.g., Fe IX 17.1 nm) usually dim immediately after the flare onset and do not recover until after the delayed second peak of the hot coronal emissions. We refer to this period of 1-5 hours after the fl amrea sin phase as the late phase, and this late phase is uniquely different than long duration flares associated with 2-ribbon flares or large filament eruptions. Our analysis of the late phase flare events indicates that the late phase involves hot coronal loops near the flaring region, not directly related to the original flaring loop system but rather with the higher post-eruption fields. Another finding is that space weather applications concerning Earth s ionosphere and thermosphere need to consider these late phase flares because they can enhance the total EUV irradiance flare variation by a factor of 2 when the late phase contribution is included.

Woods, Thomas N.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Relationship Between the Expansion Speed and Radial Speed of CMEs Confirmed Using Quadrature Observations from SOHO and STEREO

It is difficult to measure the true speed of Earth-directed CMEs from a coronagraph along the Sun-Earth line because of the occulting disk. However, the expansion speed (the speed with which the CME appears to spread in the sky plane) can be measured by such coronagraph. In order to convert the expansion speed to radial speed (which is important for space weather applications) one can use empirical relationship between the two that assumes an average width for all CMEs. If we have the width information from quadrature observations, we can confirm the relationship between expansion and radial speeds derived by Gopalswamy et al. (2009, CEAB, 33, 115,2009). The STEREO spacecraft were in quadrature with SOHO (STEREO-A ahead of Earth by 87 and STEREO-B 94 behind Earth) on 2011 February 15, when a fast Earth-directed CME occurred. The CME was observed as a halo by the Large-Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) on board SOHO. The sky-plane speed was measured by SOHO/LASCO as the expansion speed, while the radial speed was measured by STEREO-A and STEREO-B. In addition, STEREO-A and STEREO-B images measured the width of the CME, which is unknown from Earth view. From the SOHO and STEREO measurements, we confirm the relationship between the expansion speed (Vexp ) and radial speed (Vrad ) derived previously from geometrical considerations (Gopalswamy et al. 2009): Vrad = 1/2 (1 + cot w) Vexp, where w is the half width of the CME. STEREO-B images of the CME, we found that CME had a full width of 75 degrees, so w = 37.5 degrees. This gives the relation as Vrad = 1.15 Vexp. From LASCO observations, we measured Vexp = 897 km/s, so we get the radial speed as 1033 km/s. Direct measurement of radial speed from STEREO gives 945 km/s (STEREO-A) and 1057 km/s (STEREO-B). These numbers are different only by 2.3% and 8.5% (for STEREO-A and STEREO-B, respectively) from the computed value.

Gopalswamy, Nat↗
NASA NTRS2011

V and V Efforts of Auroral Precipitation Models: Preliminary Results

Auroral precipitation models have been valuable both in terms of space weather applications and space science research. Yet very limited testing has been performed regarding model performance. A variety of auroral models are available, including empirical models that are parameterized by geomagnetic indices or upstream solar wind conditions, now casting models that are based on satellite observations, or those derived from physics-based, coupled global models. In this presentation, we will show our preliminary results regarding V&V efforts of some of the models.

Zheng, Yihua↗