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At least 55 records · Page 3

Quality Ranking of Unary Fluoride Salt Property Data in MSTDB-TP

Molten salt reactor developers rely on thermal property data to design, license and operate the reactors they are developing. The Molten Salt Thermal Database-Thermophysical Properties (MSTDB-TP) is being developed under the DOE Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program and managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The MSTDB-TP is intended to serve as a single source of measured thermophysical property values for a wide variety of molten salt systems available to researchers, molten salt reactor developers, and regulators. These properties include melting and boiling points, heat capacity, density, viscosity and thermal diffusivity and conductivity. Published measurements of molten salt properties are lacking for many salts and the data that are available are often inconsistent. This creates a challenge for MSR developers in determining which property values to select when designing their reactors. The MSDTDB-TP collects all available property data and down-selects to preferred data sets or correlations. It is the purpose of this work to apply a recently developed ranking system that indicates the quality of property values listed in the database to inform decisions about how to use the available data. Quality assessments and rankings are being applied to data in MSTDB-TP to provide an indication of the quality of the data available. A previous report detailed the ranking system that was followed.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Increasing Efficiency at the NTF by Optimizing Model AoA Positioning

The National Transonic Facility (NTF) at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) is a national resource for aeronautical research and development. The government, military and private industries rely on the capability of this facility for realistic flight data. Reducing the operation costs and keeping the NTF affordable is essential for aeronautics research. The NTF is undertaking an effort to reduce the time between data points during a pitch polar. This reduction is being driven by the operating costs of a cryogenic facility. If the time per data point can be reduced, a substantial cost savings can be realized from a reduction in liquid nitrogen (LN2) consumption. It is known that angle-of-attack (AoA) positioning is the longest lead-time item between points. In January 2005 a test was conducted at the NTF to determine the cause of the long lead-time so that an effort could be made to improve efficiency. The AoA signal at the NTF originates from onboard instrumentation then travels through a number of different systems including the signal conditioner, digital voltmeter, and the data system where the AoA angle is calculated. It is then fed into a closed loop control system that sets the model position. Each process along this path adds to the time per data point affecting the efficiency of the data taking process. Due to the nature of the closed loop feed back AoA control and the signal path, it takes approximately 18 seconds to take one pitch pause point with a typical AoA increment. Options are being investigated to reduce the time delay between points by modifying the signal path. These options include: reduced signal filtering, using analog channels instead of a digital volt meter (DVM), re-routing the signal directly to the AoA control computer and implementing new control algorithms. Each of these has potential to reduce the positioning time and together the savings could be significant. These timesaving efforts are essential but must be weighed against possible loss of data quality. For example, a reduction in filtering can introduce noise into the signal and using analog channels could result in some loss of accuracy. Data quality assessments need to be performed concurrently with timesaving techniques since data quality parameters are essential in maintaining facility integrity. This paper will highlight time saving efforts being undertaken or studied at the NTF. It will outline the instrumentation and computer systems involved in setting of the model pitch attitude then suggest changes to the process and discuss how these system changes would effect the time between data points. It also discusses the issue of data quality and how the potential efficiency changes in the system could affect it. Lastly, it will discuss the possibility of using an open loop control system and give some pros and cons of this method.

Crawford, Bradley L.↗

Environmental performance of household waste management in Europe - An example of 7 countries

Highlights: • Attributional LCA of household waste management in 7 EU countries. • Country-specific technologies and waste composition are crucial for impacts. • Proper waste management is a benefit to society. • Waste hierarchy focus needs to change from quantity to quality. • Need for overall improvement in waste data. - Abstract: An attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) of the management of 1 ton of household waste was conducted in accordance with ISO 14044:2006 and the ILCD Handbook for seven European countries, namely Germany, Denmark, France, UK, Italy, Poland and Greece, representing different household waste compositions, waste management practices, technologies, and energy systems. National data were collected from a range of sources regarding household waste composition, household sorting efficiency, collection, waste treatments, recycling, electricity and heat composition, and technological efficiencies. The objective was to quantify the environmental performance in the different countries, in order to analyze the sources of the main environmental impacts and national differences which affect the results. In most of the seven countries, household waste management provides environmental benefits when considering the benefits of recycling of materials and recovering and utilization of energy. Environmental benefits come from paper recycling and, to a lesser extent, the recycling of metals and glass. Waste-to-energy plants can lead to an environmental load (as in France) or a saving (Germany and Denmark), depending mainly on the composition of the energy being substituted. Sensitivity analysis and a data quality assessment identified a range of critical parameters, suggesting from where better data should be obtained. The study concluded that household waste management is environmentally the best in European countries with a minimum reliance on landfilling, also induced by the implementation of the Waste Hierarchy, though environmental performance does not correlate clearly with the rate of material recycling. From an environmental point of view, this calls for a change in the waste management paradigm, with less focus on where the waste is routed and more of a focus on the quality and utilization of recovered materials and energy.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Challenges in Development of Online Visualization and Analysis Tools for Satellite Data

Over the years, various online visualization and analysis tools have been developed to facilitate satellite data access and help scientific users around the world to conduct research and develop applications (e.g., data product evaluation, what-if questions, etc.). For those who are new to satellite data products, using them can be a daunting task due to many obstacles in data processing such as data formats, complex data structures, special software packages, unfamiliar terminology, etc., especially when one is not sure whether a dataset is suitable for his/er research project. Even for experienced users, developing software for data processing and analysis can be a costly and time-consuming task. Online visualization tools can overcome many of these difficulties and allow users to focus on scientific questions. For example, Giovanni (the Geospatial Interactive Online Visualization and Analysis Infrastructure, https://giovanni.gsfc.nasa.gov), developed by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), allows access over 1900 satellite and model variables in 82 measurement groups of 8 disciplines without downloading data and software. Main features include basic functions for data analysis and visualization, data provenance, output data in different formats (ASCII, NetCDF, GeoTIFF), and more. Over the years, ~1700 peer-reviewed publications in different disciplines have been benefited from Giovanni in research activities (e.g. initial investigation, what-if questions, product evaluation). Despite the success of online visualization and analysis tools, challenges and new opportunities still exist and more can be done with new requirements and technology. Examples are: a) how to increase the efficiency of dataset search by enhancing intuitive aspects; b) how to facilitate interdisciplinary research; c) how to provide data quality information; d) how to engage users to participate in data quality assessment; and more. NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) satellite-based data products are processed at various levels ranging from Level 0 to Level 4. While most users use data products at higher levels (Level-3 and 4), products at lower levels are still important for case studies, algorithm development, ground validation, etc. In this presentation, we will use Giovanni as an example to present and discuss challenges and near-future opportunities for satellite data online visualization and analysis tools.

Liu, Zhong↗

Provenance–aware workflow for data quality management and improvement for large continuous scientific data streams

Data quality assessment, management and improvement is integral part of any big data intensive scientific research to ensure accurate, reliable and reproducible science discoveries. The task of maintaining the quality of data, however, is non-trivial and pose a challenge for a program like Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) that collects data from hundreds of instruments across the world,and distributes thousands of streaming data products that are continuously growing in near-real-time in an archive 1.7 Petabyte in size and growing. We present a computational data processing workflow to collect the data quality issue via an easy and intuitive web-based portal that allows reporting of any quality issues for any site, facility or instruments at a granularity down to individual variable in the data files. Portal allows instrument specialists and scientists to provide corrective actions in form of symbolic equation. A parallel processing framework applies the data improvement to large volume of data in efficient parallel environment, while optimizing data transfer and file I/O operations. Corrected files are systematically versioned and archived. A provenance tracking module tracks and records any change made to the data during its entire life cycle which are communicated transparently to the scientific users. Developed in Python using open source technologies, software architecture enables efficient and fast management and improvement of data in an operational data center environment.

Kumar, Jitendra↗

Closure Report for Corrective Action Unit 412: Clean Slate I Plutonium Dispersion (TTR) Tonopah Test Range, Nevada, Revision 0

This Closure Report (CR) presents information supporting the clean closure of Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 412: Clean Slate I Plutonium Dispersion (TTR), located on the Tonopah Test Range, Nevada. CAU 412 consists of a release of radionuclides to the surrounding soil from a storage–transportation test conducted on May 25, 1963. Corrective action investigation (CAI) activities were performed in April and May 2015, as set forth in the Streamlined Approach for Environmental Restoration (SAFER) Plan for Corrective Action Unit 412: Clean Slate I Plutonium Dispersion (TTR), Tonopah Test Range, Nevada; and in accordance with the Soils Activity Quality Assurance Plan. The purpose of the CAI was to fulfill data needs as defined during the data quality objectives process. The CAU 412 dataset of investigation results was evaluated based on a data quality assessment. This assessment demonstrated the dataset is complete and acceptable for use in fulfilling the data needs identified by the data quality objectives process. This CR provides documentation and justification for the clean closure of CAU 412 under the FFACO without further corrective action. This justification is based on historical knowledge of the site, previous site investigations, implementation of the 1997 interim corrective action, and the results of the CAI. The corrective action of clean closure was confirmed as appropriate for closure of CAU 412 based on achievement of the following closure objectives: Radiological contamination at the site is less than the final action level using the ground troops exposure scenario (i.e., the radiological dose is less than the final action level): Removable alpha contamination is less than the high contamination area criterion: No potential source material is present at the site, and any impacted soil associated with potential source material has been removed so that remaining soil contains contaminants at concentrations less than the final action levels: and There is sufficient information to characterize investigation and remediation waste for disposal.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Measured Long-Term Solar Irradiance for Climate Studies

Solar radiation is primarily measured using high-quality radiometers (e.g., pyranometers and pyrheliometers). These instruments need to be calibrated regularly (every two years at a minimum). They are also susceptible to various sources of uncertainties. Therefore, rigorous data quality assessment is required to obtain high-confidence data from these radiometers. This is especially true when the data is used to understand climatic trends and/or extreme weather events. In this study, we attempted to create a continuous and reliable dataset by correcting the underlying data which we believe contains bias due to reference pyranometers swap procedures. These biases can be significant which can be up to two percentage points thereby influencing the interpretation of climate changes and/or extreme events. This study elaborates on the biases and methods to correct those biases.

data integrity↗

Developing the Proof of Concept for the SERI QC Flag Translation

SERI QC is a robust solar data quality assessment software tool that has been in continuous use for more than three decades. This report, the second of six in the Data Quality and Uncertainty Integration project, develops the proof of concept, including programming in C and a collection of spreadsheet tools, for estimating the operational uncertainty from three-component solar irradiance measurements using information available from SERI QC. The report establishes a field reference for determining the operational uncertainty for each irradiance component based on the SERI QC coupling. Results demonstrate that the operational uncertainty estimates based on global irradiance best represent the collective results for all sky conditions.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Anomaly Detection in Seismic Data with Deep Learning: Application for Instrument Failure Detection and Forecasting

Seismic data quality assessment (QA) is the first and one of the most important steps before conducting any further data analysis. Traditional methods involve checking various metrics, such as spike detection and power spectral density, by setting strict thresholds or comparing data against synthetic benchmarks. However, these approaches often rely on pre-existing knowledge and assumptions about data anomalies, leading to potential misclassification of unusual cases. Here, in this study, we propose a deep autoencoder model, an unsupervised learning approach that evaluates data quality without making assumptions about normal and anomalous data, which can be used to identify deviations in recorded data that may indicate nascent instrument failure. We test the model with the U.S. International Monitoring System (IMS) seismic stations and demonstrate the capability of detecting anomalies on a monthly scale. This could prompt station operators to examine potential problems early, allowing sufficient time for instrument maintenance to prevent data outages. In addition, we use a new manually selected testing dataset to compare our model performance against two supervised machine learning (ML) approaches and a standard QA package, as baseline models. When applied to the dataset containing known data anomalies, performance of the supervised and unsupervised ML approaches is similar, with an accuracy of 88.1% for our model compared to ∼90% for the supervised ML approach and 78.2% for the standard QA package. Our model outperforms the baseline models when applied to new stations, where new types of data anomalies can be station-specific and not included in the training dataset. Finally, we show model transferability by training the model with data from the Global Seismograph Network only and applying it to the IMS network data. The results suggest that our model is generalizable and can be applied to new stations with good accuracy.

Lin, Jiun-Ting [Lawrence Livermore National Labora↗

Groundwater Monitoring Report, U.S. Department of Energy Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

This report contains the groundwater and surface water monitoring data obtained during calendar year (CY) 2019 at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The monitoring data were obtained from wells, springs, and surface water sampling locations in three hydrogeologic regimes at Y-12. The Bear Creek Hydrogeologic Regime (Bear Creek Regime) encompasses a section of Bear Creek Valley (BCV) between the west end of Y-12 and the west end of the Bear Creek Watershed (directions are in reference to the Y-12 grid system, shown as Plant North. The Upper East Fork Poplar Creek Hydrogeologic Regime (East Fork Regime) encompasses the Y-12 industrial facilities and support structures in BCV. The Chestnut Ridge Hydrogeologic Regime (Chestnut Ridge Regime) encompasses a section of Chestnut Ridge directly south of Y-12. Background information in Section 2 of this report outlines the hydrogeologic framework for groundwater and surface water quality monitoring at Y-12 and includes an overview of the groundwater contamination in each hydrogeologic regime. Section 3 provides details regarding the groundwater and surface water sampling and analysis activities implemented under the Y-12 GWPP, including sampling locations and frequency, sample collection and handling, field measurements and laboratory analytes, quality assurance (QA)/quality control (QC) sampling, data management, and data quality assessment (DQA). However, the equivalent QA/QC or DQA information for the groundwater and surface water data associated with the monitoring programs implemented by UCOR are not included in this report and instead are deferred to referenced programmatic plans and reports issued by OREM and UCOR. Section 4 of this report presents a summary evaluation of the CY 2019 monitoring data with regard to the respective objectives of surveillance monitoring and exit pathway/perimeter monitoring. The evaluation is based primarily on the analytical results for the following principal groundwater contaminants at Y-12: nitrate, uranium, gross alpha activity, gross beta activity, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Section 5 summarizes the most significant findings with respect to the principal contaminants along with recommendations for any proposed changes to the ongoing groundwater and surface water quality monitoring performed under the Y-12 GWPP. Technical reports and plans cited in the narrative sections of the report are listed in Section 6. Narrative sections of this report reference several appendices. Figures (maps and diagrams) and data tables (excluding data summary tables incorporated in the narrative sections) are in Appendix A and Appendix B, respectively. Appendix C contains construction details for each well sampled during CY 2019 by either the Y-12 GWPP or UCOR, along with schematic diagrams for wells equipped with Westbay™ multiport sampling equipment or Barcad® pump systems. Appendix D supports the background summary discussion in Section 2 and provides more detailed information about the hydrogeologic framework for groundwater and surface water monitoring at Y-12, including the primary sources of groundwater contamination in each hydrogeologic regime. Results for all field measurements and laboratory analyses obtained by the Y-12 GWPP and UCOR are presented in Appendix E, which also includes the sample numbers for the QA/QC samples associated with groundwater and surface water monitoring performed by the Y-12 GWPP.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Examples L-Band Interference will be Presented and Discussed, as well as the Importance of L-Band Soil Moisture Observations

Examples of L-band interference will be presented and discussed, as well as the importance of L-band soil moisture observations, as part of this one-day GEOSS workshop XXXVII on "Data Quality and Radio Spectrum Allocation Impact on Earth Observations" will address the broad challenges of data quality and the impact of generating reliable information for decision makers who are Earth data users but not necessarily experts in the Earth observation field. GEO has initiated a data quality assessment task (DA-09-01a) and workshop users will review and debate the directions and challenges of this effort. Radio spectrum allocation is an element of data availability and data quality, and is also associated with a GEO task (AR-06-11). A recent U.S. National Research Council report on spectrum management will be addressed as part of the workshop. Key representatives from industry, academia, and government will provide invited talks on these and related issues that impact GEOSS implementation.

Kim, Edward↗

Study on spectral/radiometric characteristics of the Thematic Mapper for land use applications

Progress under the LANDSAT-4 and 5 Image Data Quality Assessment program for the Thematic Mapper is described. An initial screening of LANDSAT-5 data is performed. Tools are developed to allow access to TIPS-format data. Analysis of scan direction related signal droop is resumed with detailed analysis of nighttime data. A new mathematical model is developed to describe the effect. Coherent noise of a lower frequency than previously reported is discovered and analyzed. Coincident LANDSAT-4 TM and MSS data are analyzed to improve understanding of radiometric relationships between similar wavebands in the two sensors.

Malila, W. A.↗

Corrective Action Decision Document/Closure Report for Corrective Action Unit 550: Smoky Contamination Area Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, Revision 0

This Corrective Action Decision Document/Closure Report presents information supporting the closure of Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 550: Smoky Contamination Area, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada. CAU 550 includes 19 corrective action sites (CASs), which consist of one weapons-related atmospheric test (Smoky), three safety experiments (Ceres, Oberon, Titania), and 15 debris sites (Table ES-1). The CASs were sorted into the following study groups based on release potential and technical similarities: • Study Group 1, Atmospheric Test • Study Group 2, Safety Experiments • Study Group 3, Washes • Study Group 4, Debris The purpose of this document is to provide justification and documentation supporting the conclusion that no further corrective action is needed for CAU 550 based on implementation of the corrective actions listed in Table ES-1. Corrective action investigation (CAI) activities were performed between August 2012 and October 2013 as set forth in the Corrective Action Investigation Plan for Corrective Action Unit 550: Smoky Contamination Area; and in accordance with the Soils Activity Quality Assurance Plan. The approach for the CAI was to investigate and make data quality objective (DQO) decisions based on the types of releases present. The purpose of the CAI was to fulfill data needs as defined during the DQO process. The CAU 550 dataset of investigation results was evaluated based on a data quality assessment. This assessment demonstrated the dataset is complete and acceptable for use in fulfilling the DQO data needs.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Corrective Action Decision Document for Corrective Action Unit 568. Area 3 Plutonium Dispersion Sites, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada Revision 0

The purpose of this Corrective Action Decision Document is to identify and provide the rationale for the recommendation of corrective action alternatives (CAAs) for the 14 CASs within CAU 568. Corrective action investigation (CAI) activities were performed from April 2014 through May 2015, as set forth in the Corrective Action Investigation Plan for Corrective Action Unit 568: Area 3 Plutonium Dispersion Sites, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada; and in accordance with the Soils Activity Quality Assurance Plan, which establishes requirements, technical planning, and general quality practices. The purpose of the CAI was to fulfill data needs as defined during the DQO process. The CAU 568 dataset of investigation results was evaluated based on a data quality assessment. This assessment demonstrated that the dataset is complete and acceptable for use in fulfilling the DQO data needs. Based on the evaluation of analytical data from the CAI, review of future and current operations at the 14 CASs, and the detailed and comparative analysis of the potential CAAs, the following corrective actions are recommended for CAU 568: • No further action is the preferred corrective action for CASs 03-23-17, 03-23-22, 03-23-26. • Closure in place is the preferred corrective action for CAS 03-23-19; 03-45-01; the SE DCBs at CASs 03-23-20, 03-23-23, 03-23-31, 03-23-32, 03-23-33, and 03-23-34; and the Pascal-BHCA at CAS 03-23-31. • Clean closure is the preferred corrective action for CASs 03-08-04, 03-23-30, and 03-26-04; and the four well head covers at CASs 03-23-20, 03-23-23, 03-23-31, and 03-23-33.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

FissionTPC Level-2 Milestone Report (Mid Q2 FY2022)

FissionTPC L2 Milestone Completion Criteria: Report on 239 Pu(n, f)/ 235 U(n, f ) Vapor Deposition Target Preliminary Results; and, 239 Pu(n, f)/ 6 Li(n, t) Data Quality Assessment. Also include in this report: Update on the 235 U(n, f)/ 6 Li(n, t) Data Analysis.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Macromolecular structure determination using X-rays, neutrons and electrons: recent developments in Phenix

Diffraction (X-ray, neutron and electron) and electron cryo-microscopy are powerful methods to determine three-dimensional macromolecular structures, which are required to understand biological processes and to develop new therapeutics against diseases. The overall structure-solution workflow is similar for these techniques, but nuances exist because the properties of the reduced experimental data are different. Software tools for structure determination should therefore be tailored for each method. Phenix is a comprehensive software package for macromolecular structure determination that handles data from any of these techniques. Tasks performed with Phenix include data-quality assessment, map improvement, model building, the validation/rebuilding/refinement cycle and deposition. Each tool caters to the type of experimental data. The design of Phenix emphasizes the automation of procedures, where possible, to minimize repetitive and time-consuming manual tasks, while default parameters are chosen to encourage best practice. A graphical user interface provides access to many command-line features of Phenix and streamlines the transition between programs, project tracking and re-running of previous tasks.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Study of spectral/radiometric characteristics of the Thematic Mapper for land use applications

Progress during ERIM's tenth quarter of effort under the LANDSAT-4 and 5 Image Data Quality Assessment program for the Thematic Mapper is described. Coincident LANDSAT-4 and 5 fully corrected (CCT-PT) TM data are analyzed in more detail and revised band-by-band relationships between the two sensors derived. An analysis technique employing the matching of cumulative distributions is developed and used and is believed to offer advantages over the histogram matching procedure currently used to produce LANDSAT data. Multiplicative factors ranging from 0.987 to 1.145 and offsets ranging from -2.7 to -6.2 video quantum levels are required to cause LANDSAT-5 data to match LANDSAT-4 data values. Evidence of low level clipping is found in TM Bands 5 and 7 of LANDSAT-5 but not LANDSAT-4. Analysis of the information content of LANDSAT TM and MSS data is continued. Components of information loss are identified and quantified and the effects of coarsened quantization are explored.

Malila, W. A.↗

Quality Control Analysis in Real-time (QC-ART): A Tool for Real-time Quality Control Assessment of Mass Spectrometry-based Proteomics Data

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based proteomics studies of large sample cohorts can easily require from months to years to complete. Acquiring consistent, high-quality data in such large-scale studies is challenging because of normal variations in instrumentation performance over time, as well as artifacts introduced by the samples themselves, such as those due to collection, storage and processing. Existing quality control methods for proteomics data primarily focus on post-hoc analysis to remove low-quality data that would degrade downstream statistics; they are not designed to evaluate the data in near real-time, which would allow for interventions as soon as deviations in data quality are detected. In addition to flagging analyses that demonstrate outlier behavior, evaluating how the data structure changes over time can aide in understanding typical instrument performance or identify issues such as a degradation in data quality due to the need for instrument cleaning and/or re-calibration. To address this gap for proteomics, we developed Quality Control Analysis in Real-Time (QC-ART), a tool for evaluating data as they are acquired in order to dynamically flag potential issues with instrument performance or sample quality. QC-ART has similar accuracy as standard post-hoc analysis methods with the additional benefit of real-time analysis. We demonstrate the utility and performance of QC-ART in identifying deviations in data quality due to both instrument and sample issues in near real-time for LC-MS-based plasma proteomics analyses of a sample subset of The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young cohort. We also present a case where QC-ART facilitated the identification of oxidative modifications, which are often underappreciated in proteomic experiments.

Stanfill, Bryan A.↗