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DOE OSTI2025

Enhancing Biomass Productivity by Forecast‐Informed Pond Operations

ABSTRACT Microalgal cultivation for biofuels and proteins holds significant promise but faces challenges in achieving economically viable biomass productivity under variable environmental conditions. This study introduces a forecast‐informed pond operation (FIPO) system that uses numerical weather prediction (NWP) ensemble forecasts and the biomass assessment tool (BAT) to optimize daily dilution rates for enhanced biomass production. In contrast to the current practice, where fixed dilution rates are based on operator experience, the FIPO system determines the optimal dilution rate based on future weather forecasts and biomass growth conditions. Our experiments validate the effectiveness of FIPO in both short‐ and long‐term growth scenarios. In short‐term experiments, FIPO increased biomass production by 21.3% compared to batch growth and 7.4% over fixed dilution (60% every 3 days) operations. The NWP forecast‐informed operations achieved biomass production nearly identical to that using perfect weather forecasts, highlighting the accuracy of current NWP forecasts for guiding pond operations. In long‐term experiments, FIPO resulted in biomass production increases of 13.3% and 17.8% compared to two fixed dilution rates (60% every 3 days and 20% daily). These findings underscore the viability of using NWP forecasts to optimize microalgal cultivation systems. By adjusting daily dilution rates in response to forecasted weather, operators can achieve higher biomass yields and mitigate risks associated with environmental variability. This study provides a foundation for future research and practical applications in commercial‐scale microalgal production.

Yan, Hongxiang [Energy and Environment Directorate↗

NASA NTRS1994

Experiment K-7-16: Effects of Microgravity or Simulated Launch on Testicular Function in Rats

Fixed or frozen testicular tissues from five rats per group were analyzed by: subjective and quantitative evaluations of spermatogenesis; Northern-blot analysis for expression of selected genes; quantification of testosterone and receptors for LH; and morphometric analysis of Leydig cells. Based on observations of fixed tissue, it was evident that some rats in the flight and vivarium groups had testicular abnormalities unassociated with treatment, and probably existing when they were assigned randomly to the four treatment groups; the simulated-launch group contained no abnormal rat. Lesions induced in testes of caudal-elevation rats precluded discernment of any pre-existing abnormality. Considering rats without pre-existing abnormalities, diameter of seminiferous tubules and numbers of germ cells per tubule cross section were lower (E less than 0.05) in flight rats than in simulated-launch or vivarium rats. However, ratios of germ cells to each other, or to Sertoli cells, and number of homogenization-resistant spermatids did not differ from values for simulated-launch or vivarium controls. There was no effect of flight on normal expression of testis-specific hsp gene products, or evidence for production of stress-inducible transcripts of the hsp70 or hsp90 genes. Concentration of receptors for rLH in testicular tissue, and surface densities of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and peroxisomes in Leydig cells, were similar in flight and simulated-launch rats. However, concentrations of testosterone in testicular tissue or peripheral blood plasma were reduced (P less than 0.05) in flight rats to less than 20 percent of values for simulated-launch or vivarium controls. Thus, spermatogenesis was essentially normal in flight rats, but production of testosterone was severely depressed. Sequela of reduced androgen production on turnover of muscle and bone should be considered when interpreting data from mammals exposed to microgravity.

Amann, R. P.↗

NASA NTRS1993

The role of large-scale eddies in the climate equilibrium. I - Fixed static stability

An efficient two-level model on a sphere that is based on the balance equations with fixed static stability is developed and used to study how eddies arising from baroclinic instability interact with the temperature structure. The model gives a much better simulation of the eddy momentum flux and of the total eddy forcing of the zonal-mean temperature and zonal wind fields than do quasi-geostrophic beta-plane models. Nonetheless, the results are qualitatively similar. The midlatitude eddy regimes range between two extreme cases. In one, the eddies have no effect on the temperature and zonal wind fields, and in the other (similar to the observed atmosphere), the eddy forcing of the temperature and zonal wind fields is dominated by the eddy heat flux. Quantitatively, some of the model's results differ significantly from those based on the quasi-geostrophic beta-plane. For example, the temperature structure is much more sensitive to the external forcing, and the eddy heat flux is less sensitive to the temperature structure.

Zhou, Shuntai↗

DOE OSTI2015

Conformation dependent electronic transport in a DNA double-helix

We present a tight-binding study of conformation dependent electronic transport properties of DNA double-helix including its helical symmetry. We have studied the changes in the localization properties of DNA as we alter the number of stacked bases within every pitch of the double-helix keeping fixed the total number of nitrogen bases within the DNA molecule. We take three DNA sequences, two of them are periodic and one is random and observe that in all the cases localization length increases as we increase the radius of DNA double-helix i.e., number of nucleobases within a pitch. We have also investigated the effect of backbone energetic on the I-V response of the system and found that in presence of helical symmetry, depending on the interplay of conformal variation and disorder, DNA can be found in either metallic, semiconducting and insulating phases, as observed experimentally.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2023

Fusion of Multiple Models for Improving Gross Primary Production Estimation With Eddy Covariance Data Based on Machine Learning

Abstract Terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) represents the magnitude of CO 2 uptake through vegetation photosynthesis, and is a key variable for carbon cycles between the biosphere and atmosphere. Light use efficiency (LUE) models have been widely used to estimate GPP for its physiological mechanisms and availability of data acquisition and implementation, yet each individual GPP model has exhibited large uncertainties due to input errors and model structure, and further studies of systematic validation, comparison, and fusion of those models with eddy covariance (EC) site data across diverse ecosystem types are still needed in order to further improve GPP estimation. We here compared and fused five GPP models (VPM, EC‐LUE, GOL‐PEM, CHJ, and C‐Fix) across eight ecosystems based on FLUXNET2015 data set using the ensemble methods of Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Random Forest (RF) separately. Our results showed that for individual models, EC‐LUE gave a better performance to capture interannual variability of GPP than other models, followed by VPM and GLO‐PEM, while CHJ and C‐Fix were more limited in their estimation performance. We found RF and SVM were superior to BMA on merging individual models at various plant functional types (PFTs) and at the scale of individual sites. On the basis of individual models, the fusion methods of BMA, SVM, and RF were examined by a five‐fold cross validation for each ecosystem type, and each method successfully improved the average accuracy of estimation by 8%, 18%, and 19%, respectively.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗

NASA NTRS2008

Strategies of Healthy Adults Walking on a Laterally Oscillating Treadmill

We mounted a treadmill on top of a six degree-of-freedom motion base platform to investigate locomotor responses produced by healthy adults introduced to a dynamic walking surface. The experiment examined self-selected strategies employed by participants when exposed to continuous, sinusoidal lateral motion of the support surface while walking. Torso translation and step width were used to classify responses used to stabilize gait in a novel, dynamic environment. Two response categories emerged. Participants tended to either fix themselves in space (FIS), allowing the treadbelt to move laterally beneath them, or they fixed themselves to the base (FTB), moving laterally as the motion base oscillated. The degree of fixation in both extremes varied across participants. This finding suggests that normal adults have innate and varied preferences for reacquiring gait stability, some depending more heavily on vision (FIS group) and others on proprioception (FTB group). Keywords: Human locomotion, Unstable surface, Treadmill, Adaptation, Stability

Brady, Rachel A.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Exploiting Fixed Charge to Control Schottky Barrier Height in Si|Al 2 O 3 |MoO x – based Tunnel Diodes

The insertion of a tunneling atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al 2 O 3 film between MoO x and p-type Si has been studied to investigate Schottky barrier height tunability with varied negative fixed charge density. This work seeks to increase the hole-selectivity of MoO x -based contacts through manipulation of interface fixed charge. Fixed charge density and interface trap state densities are determined as a function of alumina processing conditions in metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors (MOSCAPs). Schottky barrier heights were determined from Mott-Schottky analysis of tunnel diodes. An alumina deposition temperature of 80°C and post-deposition annealing at 425°C yielded the highest magnitude of negative fixed charge density (-3.5 × 10 12 q . cm –2 ). High deposition temperature and/or post-deposition annealing produced the lowest interface trap state density (1 × 10 12 eV -1 . cm –2 ). On p-type silicon, Schottky barrier height minimization was not clearly correlated with increasing fixed charge density. However, on n-type silicon, a significant increase in Schottky barrier height was evident (~0.8 eV to > 1 eV) and is attributed to the large negative fixed charge. Here, the findings from this work indicate that Schottky barrier height in carrier selective contacts can be tuned by electrostatic engineering of the SiO x |Al 2 O 3 interface.

aluminum oxide↗

DOE OSTI2013

A Comparison of Amplitude-Based and Phase-Based Positron Emission Tomography Gating Algorithms for Segmentation of Internal Target Volumes of Tumors Subject to Respiratory Motion

Purpose: To quantitatively compare the accuracy of tumor volume segmentation in amplitude-based and phase-based respiratory gating algorithms in respiratory-correlated positron emission tomography (PET). Methods and Materials: List-mode fluorodeoxyglucose-PET data was acquired for 10 patients with a total of 12 fluorodeoxyglucose-avid tumors and 9 lymph nodes. Additionally, a phantom experiment was performed in which 4 plastic butyrate spheres with inner diameters ranging from 1 to 4 cm were imaged as they underwent 1-dimensional motion based on 2 measured patient breathing trajectories. PET list-mode data were gated into 8 bins using 2 amplitude-based (equal amplitude bins [A1] and equal counts per bin [A2]) and 2 temporal phase-based gating algorithms. Gated images were segmented using a commercially available gradient-based technique and a fixed 40% threshold of maximum uptake. Internal target volumes (ITVs) were generated by taking the union of all 8 contours per gated image. Segmented phantom ITVs were compared with their respective ground-truth ITVs, defined as the volume subtended by the tumor model positions covering 99% of breathing amplitude. Superior-inferior distances between sphere centroids in the end-inhale and end-exhale phases were also calculated. Results: Tumor ITVs from amplitude-based methods were significantly larger than those from temporal-based techniques (P=.002). For lymph nodes, A2 resulted in ITVs that were significantly larger than either of the temporal-based techniques (P<.0323). A1 produced the largest and most accurate ITVs for spheres with diameters of ≥2 cm (P=.002). No significant difference was shown between algorithms in the 1-cm sphere data set. For phantom spheres, amplitude-based methods recovered an average of 9.5% more motion displacement than temporal-based methods under regular breathing conditions and an average of 45.7% more in the presence of baseline drift (P<.001). Conclusions: Target volumes in images generated from amplitude-based gating are larger and more accurate, at levels that are potentially clinically significant, compared with those from temporal phase-based gating.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

DOE OSTI2026

Data for Impact of Vertical and Seasonal Variation in Leaf Traits on Simulating Soybean Canopy Photosynthesis via 1D and 3D Modeling

Accurate modeling of photosynthesis is crucial for predicting crop productivity and quantifying the carbon cycle in agroecosystems. Leaf traits are essential inputs for modeling canopy photosynthesis. Yet, many existing models still use fixed plant functional type (PTF)-based values to parameterize leaf traits under a big-leaf or two-big-leaf assumption, neglecting their vertical profiles and seasonal changes. This simplification may introduce significant uncertainties in estimating gross primary productivity (GPP). In this study, we simulated soybean GPP and tested the effects of vertical and seasonal variation in three key leaf photosynthetic traits: the maximum carboxylation rate at 25 °C (Vcmax25), leaf chlorophyll content (LCC), and leaf mass per area (LMA) in the 1D-SCOPE and 3D-Helios models. Weekly field measurements were conducted during the growing season of 2024 to support the simulation. We designed ten leaf trait parameterization schemes by incorporating different combinations of vertical profiles and seasonal changes, while assuming homogeneous canopy architecture in both models. Our results revealed that Vcmax25 vertical and seasonal variation had the strongest influence on simulated GPP in both 1D and 3D models, while LCC and LMA effects were minimal. Particularly, the scheme with an empirically parameterized Vcmax25 profile achieved comparable performance to the scheme with the measured Vcmax25 profile. Both 1D-SCOPE and 3D-Helios accurately modeled GPP (SCOPE: R2 = 0.87, Bias = 0.55 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹; Helios: R2 = 0.9, Bias = 0.22 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹) under the most complex scheme, and their responses to vertical and seasonal variation in leaf traits were consistent, demonstrating the robustness of our findings. Based on our findings, we propose a scalable framework for parameterizing leaf traits to improve GPP simulations. This study contributes to improving the representation of leaf trait dynamics in canopy-level photosynthesis models, potentially enhancing our ability to predict crop productivity and understand agroecosystem carbon dynamics.

Photosynthesis↗

DOE OSTI2024

End-Use Savings Shapes Measure Documentation: Dispatch Schedule Generation for Demand Flexibility Measures

This supplemental document describes the methodology used for determining the dispatch timing of various EUSS demand flexibility measures. Demand flexibility measures are designed to reduce/dispatch electricity demand in buildings during especially beneficial/critical times. The method used in this work utilizes predictions of building loads to generate a schedule that reflects the periods when the building's daily peak load occurs to support decision making in demand flexibility measures. The dispatch schedule generation method described in this document creates an hourly schedule that includes a load dispatch (peak) window for each day for a whole year based on load prediction, with options using different prediction methods: perfect prediction, bin-sampling method, fixed schedule, and outdoor air temperature (OAT)-based prediction method. The perfect prediction method performs a simulation to obtain the annual load profile as predicted load, representing the scenario of perfect load prediction. The bin-sampling method (1) categorizes days into representative bins by temperature characteristics, (2) performs simulations on sample days from each of those bins to create representative (or predicted) load, and (3) assigns representative loads for all days in a year based on the bin categorization. The fixed schedule method defines uniform start and end time of peak window with assumed fixed daily peak time, for all days in a season or a year. The OAT-based prediction method uses the statistics of OAT (minimum and maximum) as the indicators of peak load, with specified delay response time from building loads to temperature. Given the load prediction, daily peak periods are determined as a time window with specified length in each day that include the predicted daily peak load and with a secondary rule such as maximizing energy saving potential. The dispatch schedule generation method is not a standalone measure and is intended to be combined with other demand flexibility measures that could leverage the peak schedule and apply demand controls on specific systems or devices for demand response, such as measures described in "Measure Documentation - Thermostat Control for Load Shedding" and "Measure Documentation - Thermostat Control for Load Shifting".

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2018

Impact of Alternative Rate Structures on Distributed Solar Customer Electricity Bills

Electric utilities are increasingly proposing changes to residential rate structures, in order to address concerns about their inability to recover fixed system costs from customers with grid connected distributed generation. The most common proposals have been to increase fixed charges, set minimum bills or instigate residential demand charges. This presentation provides results of an analysis to explore how these rate design alternatives impact electricity bills for PV and non-PV customers.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2018

High density grids

An X-ray data collection grid device is provided that includes a magnetic base that is compatible with robotic sample mounting systems used at synchrotron beamlines, a grid element fixedly attached to the magnetic base, where the grid element includes at least one sealable sample window disposed through a planar synchrotron-compatible material, where the planar synchrotron-compatible material includes at least one automated X-ray positioning and fluid handling robot fiducial mark.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2026

thornado+FLASH-X: A Hybrid Discontinuous Galerkin–Implicit-explicit and Finite-volume Framework for Neutrino-radiation Hydrodynamics in Core-collapse Supernovae

We present neutrino-transport algorithms implemented in the toolkit for high-order neutrino-radiation hydrodynamics (thornado) and their coupling to self-gravitating hydrodynamics within the adaptive mesh refinement–based multiphysics simulation framework FLASH-X. thornado, developed primarily for simulations of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe), employs a spectral, six-species two-moment formulation with algebraic closure and special-relativistic observer corrections accurate to $\mathcal{O}(v/c)$, and uses discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods for phase-space discretization combined with implicit-explicit time stepping. A key development is a nonlinear neutrino–matter coupling algorithm based on nested fixed-point iteration with Anderson acceleration, enabling fully implicit treatment of collisional processes, including energy-coupling interactions such as neutrino–electron scattering and pair production. Coupling to finite-volume (FV) hydrodynamics is achieved through a hybrid DG-FV representation of the fluid variables and operator-split evolution within FLASH-X. The implementation is verified using basic transport tests with idealized opacities and relaxation and deleptonization problems with tabulated microphysics. Spherically symmetric CCSN simulations demonstrate accuracy and robustness of the coupled scheme, including close agreement with the CCSN simulation code Chimera. An axisymmetric CCSN simulation further demonstrates the viability of DG-based neutrino transport for multidimensional supernova modeling within FLASH-X. thornado’s neutrino-transport solver is GPU-enabled using OpenMP offloading or OpenACC, and all CCSN applications included in this work use the GPU implementation. Together, these results establish a foundation for future enhancements in physics fidelity, numerical algorithms, and computational performance, for increasingly realistic large-scale CCSN simulations.

Endeve, Eirik [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL↗

DOE OSTI2011

HSRL Liquid cloud base height (nsaC1)

Liquid layers in clouds affect their microphysical processes, as well as the surface energy budget. Studies focusing on these and other areas of research are often in need of skillful estimation of liquid-bearing cloud-layer boundaries. The bases of these layers are predominantly determined by ground-based lidar instruments. Most studies requiring liquid cloud base height (LCBH) information use either fixed lidar depolarization and/or backscatter cross-section thresholds or cloud base height data products that do not distinguish between ice and liquid, all of which might introduce inconsistencies and errors in the resolved LCBH. This data set contains LCBH data at 1-min temoporal resolution based on an explicit LCBH detection algorithm, which uses the high-spectral-resolution lidar (HSRL) data. Examination of this algorithm in multiple cases and scenarios during numerous days and first-order comparison with microwave-radiometer data show satisfactory results.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2019

HSRL Liquid cloud base height

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1976

Study of an aircraft decoupled longitudinal control system for approach and landing

A series of ground-based and in-flight simulation studies of the application of steady-state decoupled longitudinal controls to a short take-off and landing (STOL) transport have been made. The externally blown flap STOL was selected for study because it was considered to be a worst-case situation from the control viewpoint. The decoupled longitudinal control system used constant prefilter and feedback gains to provide independent control of flight-path angle, pitch angle, and forward velocity during landing approach. The decoupled controls were compared to a more conventional stability augmentation system. The pilots were enthusiastic about the decoupled controls; the pilot workload was reduced and the landing performance significantly improved. The benefit of the decoupled controls was more dramatic during in-flight simulation using a variable stability airplane than was the case with either fixed- or moving-base, ground-based simulators.

Miller, G. K., Jr.↗

DOE OSTI2018

3D Measurement Simulation and Relative Pointing Error Verification of the Telescope Mount Assembly Subsystem for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

An engineering validation of a large optical telescope consists of executing major performing tests at the subsystem level to verify the overall engineering performance of the observatory. Thus, the relative pointing error verification of the telescope mount assembly subsystem is of special interest to guarantee the absolute pointing performance of the large synoptic survey telescope. This paper presents a new verification method for the relative pointing error assessment of the telescope mount assembly, based on laser tracker technology and several fiducial points fixed to the floor. Monte-Carlo-based simulation results show that the presented methodology is fit for purpose, even if floor movement occurs due to temperature variation during the measurement acquisition process. A further research about laser tracker technology integration into the telescope structure may suggest that such laser tracker technology could be permanently installed in the telescope in order to provide an active alignment system that aims to detect and correct possible misalignment between mirrors or to provide the required mirror positioning verification accuracy after maintenance activities. The obtained results show that two on-board laser tracker systems combined with eight measurement targets could result in measurement uncertainties that are better than 1 arcsec, which would provide a reliable built-in metrology tool for large telescopes.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2014

Comparison of flat cleaved and cylindrical diffusing fibers as treatment sources for interstitial photodynamic therapy

Purpose: For interstitial photodynamic therapy (iPDT) of bulky tumors, careful treatment planning is required in order to ensure that a therapeutic dose is delivered to the tumor, while minimizing damage to surrounding normal tissue. In clinical contexts, iPDT has typically been performed with either flat cleaved or cylindrical diffusing optical fibers as light sources. Here, the authors directly compare these two source geometries in terms of the number of fibers and duration of treatment required to deliver a prescribed light dose to a tumor volume. Methods: Treatment planning software for iPDT was developed based on graphics processing unit enhanced Monte Carlo simulations. This software was used to optimize the number of fibers, total energy delivered by each fiber, and the position of individual fibers in order to deliver a target light dose (D{sub 90}) to 90% of the tumor volume. Treatment plans were developed using both flat cleaved and cylindrical diffusing fibers, based on tissue volumes derived from CT data from a head and neck cancer patient. Plans were created for four cases: fixed energy per fiber, fixed number of fibers, and in cases where both or neither of these factors were fixed. Results: When the number of source fibers was fixed at eight, treatment plans based on flat cleaved fibers required each to deliver 7180–8080 J in order to deposit 90 J/cm{sup 2} in 90% of the tumor volume. For diffusers, each fiber was required to deliver 2270–2350 J (333–1178 J/cm) in order to achieve this same result. For the case of fibers delivering a fixed 900 J, 13 diffusers or 19 flat cleaved fibers at a spacing of 1 cm were required to deliver the desired dose. With energy per fiber fixed at 2400 J and the number of fibers fixed at eight, diffuser fibers delivered the desired dose to 93% of the tumor volume, while flat cleaved fibers delivered this dose to 79%. With both energy and number of fibers allowed to vary, six diffusers delivering 3485–3600 J were required, compared to ten flat cleaved fibers delivering 2780–3600 J. Conclusions: For the same number of fibers, cylindrical diffusers allow for a shorter treatment duration compared to flat cleaved fibers. For the same energy delivered per fiber, diffusers allow for the insertion of fewer fibers in order to deliver the same light dose to a target volume.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗