Practical applications from advanced research and technology.
Research areas in future NASA program covering materials, energy conversion, guidance, instrumentation, etc
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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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Information Products & Communication Materials for SSEB, SGA, SLC and Partners [Slides]
Contents include the following: 1) Southeastern Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB)–Southern States Energy Board's 48th Annual Meeting, August 8, 2008; 2) Southern States Energy Board Carbon Management Program SSEB Associate Members Meeting, August 21, 2009; 3) Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Demonstration Project, August 21, 2009; 4) Clean Energy in the Southern Region, August 27, 2010; 5) Carbon Management–Southern Leadership of a Regional Partnership, October 17, 2011; 6) Southeastern Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership "Knowledge Sharing", August 10, 2012; 7) Southeastern Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership; 8) Site Visit by Southern Legislative Group, July 30, 2013; 9) SECARB Awards Anthropogenic Test, March 4, 2014; 10) Southern Company/MHI Ltd. 500 TPD CCS Demonstration; 11) SECARB Anthropogenic Test Project Assessment, March 4-5, 2014; 12) Advanced Monitoring Technologies SECARB Phase III CO 2 Storage Citronell, Alabama, March 4, 2014; 13) Geomechanics at Cranfield, March 5, 2014; 14) Gulf Coast Carbon Center Near-Surface Update, March 4-5, 2014; 15) Monitoring Design Best Practices, March 5, 2014; 16) Special Projects–Carbon Management Program, 2015; 17) Special Projects, November 2-3, 2016; 18) Carbon Management Program Carbon Capture & Storage Projects, September 24, 2017; 19) Remarks Before the 58th Annual Meeting of the Executive Committee, September 16, 2018; 20) Annual Business Session, September 24, 2019; and 21) Recent Activities & 2019-2020 Elections Insights, February 7, 2020.
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
Technology inventory: energy efficiency measures for residential, commercial, and industrial sectors in the United States
Energy efficiency is expected to continue to be one of main levers for governments to address the energy and climate crisis. While a diverse mix of energy efficiency programs has been regarded as an important part of governmental actions, an energy efficiency policy or program needs to identify and assess eligible savings measures, i.e., specific technologies or practices, for designing key features, e.g., target type, target stringency, covered load, and cost recovery. This report briefly discusses U.S. energy efficiency policies and programs, explores publicly available resources of energy efficiency measures for residential, commercial, and industrial sectors in the U.S., and describes how to compile key measures and characteristics into an integrated spreadsheet database. The database in the initial version offers, for more than 1,200 measures, efficiency or improvement potential, technical notes, costs at a given year, where applicable. Energy efficiency measures compiled here could play an important role in determining savings targets and target stringency under a potential energy efficiency policy such as an energy efficiency resource standard in Korea, and offer significant opportunities for energy efficiency improvement.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Encouraging voluntary government action via a solar-friendly designation program to promote solar energy in the United States
Sustainable development requires an accelerated transition toward renewable energy. In particular, substantially scaling up solar photovoltaics (PV) adoption is a crucial component of reducing the impacts of climate change and promoting sustainable development. However, it is challenging to convince local governments to take action. This study uses a combination of propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences (DID) models to assess the effectiveness of a voluntary environmental program (VEP) called SolSmart that targets local governments to engage in solar-friendly practices to promote the local solar PV market in the United States. Via specific designation requirements and technical assistance, SolSmart simplifies the process of acting on interest in being solar friendly, has a wide coverage of basic solar-friendly actions with flexible implementation, and motivates completion with multiple levels of designation. We find that a local government’s participation in SolSmart is associated with an increased installed capacity of 18 to 19%/mo or with less statistical significance, an increased number of installations of 17%/mo in its jurisdiction. However, SolSmart has not shown a statistically significant impact on soft cost reductions to date. In evaluating the impact of the SolSmart program, this study improves our understanding of the causation between a VEP that encourages solar-friendly local government practices and multiple solar market outcomes. VEPs may be able to promote shifts toward sustainable development at the local level. Our findings have several implications for the design of VEPs that promote local sustainability.
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
Radiator design system computer programs
Minimum weight space radiator subsystems which can operate over heat load ranges wider than the capabilities of current subsystems are investigated according to projected trends of future long duration space vehicles. Special consideration is given to maximum heat rejection requirements of the low temperature radiators needed for environmental control systems. The set of radiator design programs that have resulted from this investigation are presented in order to provide the analyst with a capability to generate optimum weight radiator panels or sets of panels from practical design considerations, including transient performance. Modifications are also provided for existing programs to improve capability and user convenience.
Wiggins, C. L.↗
AutoBayes Program Synthesis System System Internals
This lecture combines the theoretical background of schema based program synthesis with the hands-on study of a powerful, open-source program synthesis system (Auto-Bayes). Schema-based program synthesis is a popular approach toward program synthesis. The lecture will provide an introduction into this topic and discuss how this technology can be used to generate customized algorithms. The synthesis of advanced numerical algorithms requires the availability of a powerful symbolic (algebra) system. Its task is to symbolically solve equations, simplify expressions, or to symbolically calculate derivatives (among others) such that the synthesized algorithms become as efficient as possible. We will discuss the use and importance of the symbolic system for synthesis. Any synthesis system is a large and complex piece of code. In this lecture, we will study Autobayes in detail. AutoBayes has been developed at NASA Ames and has been made open source. It takes a compact statistical specification and generates a customized data analysis algorithm (in C/C++) from it. AutoBayes is written in SWI Prolog and many concepts from rewriting, logic, functional, and symbolic programming. We will discuss the system architecture, the schema libary and the extensive support infra-structure. Practical hands-on experiments and exercises will enable the student to get insight into a realistic program synthesis system and provides knowledge to use, modify, and extend Autobayes.
Statistical Algorithms↗
PCOR Partnership Best Practices Manual for Subsurface Technical Risk Assessment of Geologic CO 2 Storage Projects
In 2003, the U.S. Department of Energy established the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSP) Initiative to help develop technology, infrastructure, and regulations needed to facilitate large-scale carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) geologic storage (herein “storage”) and support deployment of commercial carbon capture and storage projects. The Plains CO 2 Reduction (PCOR) Partnership, led by the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), is one of seven partnerships created by this program. The PCOR Partnership is publishing a series of best practices manuals for each of the four PCOR Partnership-defined primary technical elements of a storage site: site characterization; modeling and simulation; risk assessment; and monitoring, verification, and accounting. This document describes the risk assessment process for evaluating subsurface technical risks associated with a CO 2 storage project. This best practices manual identifies the key elements comprising a risk assessment for a CO 2 storage complex and defines important risk management terminology and technical factors that are unique to the geologic storage of CO 2 . It also provides best practices for implementing a risk assessment based on lessons learned from conducting risk assessments for storage complexes within the PCOR Partnership region. Case studies of these real-world examples, which highlight key aspects of applying the risk assessment process to storage projects, are provided to support the proposed best practices. The development of a best practice requires the execution of multiple projects where the knowledge gained and lessons learned are accumulated over time and integrated to yield a best practice. This development progression is an adaptive management process whereby best practices constantly evolve over time in response to knowledge gained and lessons learned. This document encompasses the current body-of-knowledge and best practices for applying a standardized risk assessment approach within risk management for storage projects. Application of these best practices will provide reliable and consistent standards for identifying project-related risks, analyzing the probabilities and potential impacts of these risks, evaluating which risks require treatment, and determining priority for treatment implementation. These best practices will continue to evolve and be refined over time as commercialization of the CO 2 storage industry proceeds.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA aircraft noise reduction research and technology program overview
A brief outline of the chief areas where NASA is making efforts in aircraft noise research is given. This includes studies of the physical basis of aircraft noise and methods for accurately predicting it, the development of practical technologies for noise reduction, and the subjective response of people when exposed to aircraft noise. The JT8D Refan Program was to explore whether the noise reduction design concepts used effectively in modern high-bypass engines could also be applied practically and effectively as retrofittable modifications to existing older, low-bypass JT8D engines. A program has been completed on developing and demonstrating safe and acceptable flight procedures together with necessary airborne electronics to permit two-segment approaches under either VFR or IFR conditions.
Johnson, H. W.↗
Practical aspects of variable reduction formulations and reduced basis algorithms in multidisciplinary design optimization
This paper discusses certain connections between nonlinear programming algorithms and the formulation of optimization problems for systems governed by state constraints. The major points of this paper are the detailed calculation of the sensitivities associated with different formulations of optimization problems and the identification of some useful relationships between different formulations. These relationships have practical consequences; if one uses a reduced basis nonlinear programming algorithm, then the implementations for the different formulations need only differ in a single step.
Lewis, Robert Michael↗
Advancing Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles in San Francisco and Beyond
Final report for the Advancing Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles in San Francisco and Beyond program (October 1, 2016-June 30, 2019). The program was developed to increase community awareness of the viability, safety and availability of hydrogen fuel and FCEVs; update and standardize best practices in permitting and inspection of hydrogen fueling infrastructure; and develop a group procurement program.
08 HYDROGEN↗
A systematic comparison of machine learning methods for modeling of dynamic processes applied to combustion emission rate modeling
Ten established, data-driven dynamic algorithms are surveyed and a practical guide for understanding these methods generated. Existing Python programming packages for implementing each algorithm are acknowledged, and the model equations necessary for prediction are presented. A case study on a coal-fired power plant’s NO x emission rates is performed, directly comparing each modeling method’s performance on a mutual system. Each model is evaluated by its root mean squared error (RMSE) on out-of-sample future horizon predictions. Optimal hyperparameters are identified using either an exhaustive search or genetic algorithm. The top five model structures of each method are used to recursively predict future NO x emission rates over a 60-step time horizon. The RMSE at each future timestep is determined, and the recursive output prediction trends compared against measurements in time. The GRU neural network is identified as the best candidate for representing the system, demonstrating accurate and stable predictions across the future horizon by all considered models, while satisfactory performance was observed in several of the ARX/NARX formulations. Finally, these efforts have contributed 1) a concise resource of multiple proven dynamic machine learning methods, 2) a practical guide explaining the use of these methods, effectively lowering the “barrier-to-entry” of deploying such models in control systems, 3) a comparison study evaluating each method’s performance on a mutual system, 4) demonstration of accurate multi-timestep emissions modeling suitable for systems-level control, and 5) generalizable results demonstrating the suitability of each method for prediction over a multi-step future horizon to other complex dynamic systems.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Hybrid Programming for Near-Term Quantum Computing Systems
Recent computations involving quantum processing units (QPUs) have demonstrated a series of challenges inherent to hybrid classical-quantum programming, compilation, execution, and verification and validation. Despite considerable progress, system-level noise, limited low-level instructions sets, remote access models, and an overall lack of portability and classical integration presents near-term programming challenges that must be overcome in order to enable reliable scientific quantum computing and support robust hardware benchmarking. In this work, we draw on our experience in programming QPUs to identify common concerns and challenges, and detail best practices for mitigating these challenges within the current hybrid classical-quantum computing paradigm. Following this discussion, we introduce the XACC quantum compilation and execution framework as a hardware and language independent solution that addresses many of these hybrid programming challenges. XACC supports extensible methodologies for managing a variety of programming, compilation, and execution concerns across the increasingly diverse set of QPUs. We use recent nuclear physics simulations to illustrate how the framework mitigates programming, compilation, and execution challenges and manages the complex workflow present in QPU-enhanced scientific applications. Finally, we codify the resulting hybrid scientific computing workflow in order to identify key areas requiring future improvement.
Mccaskey, Alex↗
E2C Cohorts: Implementation Funding Projects - Impact Summary [Slides]
From August 2024 to October 2025, 11 Clean Cities and Communities coalitions supported projects to advance transportation goals by gathering input from local stakeholders, and using the resulting insights to develop new plans and programs for local partners. This effort leveraged information and best practices shared during the 2024 E2C Cohort on Integrating Community Priorities into Electric Vehicle Plans and Projects. These coalitions supported partners across the country to develop plans for electric vehicle integration through one-on-one technical assistance and tailored local engagement. This deck summarizes the individual projects completed by coalitions, and the overall reach and impact of all of this program.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Embedding Agile Practices within a Plan-Driven Hierarchical Project Life Cycle
Organizations use structured, plan-driven approaches to provide continuity, direction, and control to large, multi-year programs. Projects within these programs vary greatly in size, complexity, level of maturity, technical risk, and clarity of the development objectives. Organizations that perform exploratory research, evolutionary development, and other R&D activities can obtain the benefits of Agile practices without losing the benefits of their program’s overarching plan-driven structure. This paper describes application of Agile development methods on a large plan-driven sensor integration program. While the client employed plan-driven, requirements flow-down methodologies, tight project schedules and complex interfaces called for frequent end-to-end demonstrations to provide feedback during system development. The development process maintained the many benefits of plan-driven project execution with the rapid prototyping, integration, demonstration, and client feedback possible through Agile development methods. This paper also describes some of the tools and implementing mechanisms used to transition between and take advantage of each methodology, and presents lessons learned from the project management, system engineering, and developer’s perspectives.
Agile Development↗
Retrieval, Disposal, and Disposition of Legacy 252 Cf Sealed Sources
In this article, we describe work performed on behalf of the US Department of Energy (DOE) to disposition 467 government-owned, sealed californium-252 ( 252 Cf) sources located at 52 academic and government research sites. These sources are the legacy of the DOE 252 Cf Loan/Lease Program, which operated from the late 1960s until 2008, when the loan program closed abruptly. Although the DOE took decades to fabricate and distribute the sources, best safety and nuclear accountability practices demanded retrieval or disposition of all loaned sources as soon as achievable after the loan program was closed. An adaptable disposition approach was developed, and disposition of the sources was pursued. The approach involved a combination of source retrievals, disposal actions, and source ownership transfers. A new shielded shipping container was designed and deployed to aid in source retrievals. In a couple cases, incomplete source fabrication and shipping records prevented shipment, and those sources were left indefinitely with the customer in a safe configuration. Lastly, all the sources in the inventory were safely dispositioned in some way, and lessons learned from this effort are provided.
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
Panel Session 21: Small Business Contracting with the US DOE
This panel session provided a fast paced, high energy and thought-provoking session on how to do business with the US DOE. Charles Smith, the Director, of the US DOE Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) provided an overview of DOE OSDBU's best practices. Representatives from the Office of EM and the NNSA will give attendees insight on how to market and seek opportunities within their program offices, sites and laboratories. Also featured current DOE, small business Presidents, shared best practices on how to engage with DOE, find and win contracts. Presentations proposed include: 1 - Doing Business with the U.S. Department of Energy (Charles R. Smith, US DOE OSDBU (USA)); 2 - Small Business Contracting with the US DOE (Tamara Miles, US DOE (USA)); 3 - Small Business Contracting with NNSA (Greg Gonzales, US DOE NNSA (USA))
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
Understanding Climate Policy Data Needs. NASA Carbon Monitoring System Briefing: Characterizing Flux Uncertainty, Washington D.C., 11 January 2012
Climate policy in the United States is currently guided by public-private partnerships and actions at the local and state levels. This mitigation strategy is made up of programs that focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, agricultural practices and implementation of technologies to reduce greenhouse gases. How will policy makers know if these strategies are working, particularly at the scales at which they are being implemented? The NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) will provide information on carbon dioxide fluxes derived from observations of earth's land, ocean and atmosphere used in state of the art models describing their interactions. This new modeling system could be used to assess the impact of specific policy interventions on CO2 reductions, enabling an iterative, results-oriented policy process. In January of 2012, the CMS team held a meeting with carbon policy and decision makers in Washington DC to describe the developing modeling system to policy makers. The NASA CMS will develop pilot studies to provide information across a range of spatial scales, consider carbon storage in biomass, and improve measures of the atmospheric distribution of carbon dioxide. The pilot involves multiple institutions (four NASA centers as well as several universities) and over 20 scientists in its work. This pilot study will generate CO2 flux maps for two years using observational constraints in NASA's state-of -the-art models. Bottom-up surface flux estimates will be computed using data-constrained land and ocean models; comparison of the different techniques will provide some knowledge of uncertainty in these estimates. Ensembles of atmospheric carbon distributions will be computed using an atmospheric general circulation model (GEOS-5), with perturbations to the surface fluxes and to transport. Top-down flux estimates will be computed from observed atmospheric CO2 distributions (ACOS/GOSAT retrievals) alongside the forward-model fields, in conjunction with an inverse approach based on the CO2 model of GEOS ]Chem. The forward model ensembles will be used to build understanding of relationships among surface flux perturbations, transport uncertainty and atmospheric carbon concentration. This will help construct uncertainty estimates and information on the true spatial resolution of the top-down flux calculations. The relationship between the top-down and bottom-up flux distributions will be documented. Because the goal of NASA CMS is to be policy relevant, the scientists involved in the flux modeling pilot need to understand and be focused on the needs of the climate policy and decision making community. If policy makers are to use CMS products, they must be aware of the modeling effort and begin to design policies that can be evaluated with information. Improving estimates of carbon sequestered in forests, for example, will require information on the spatial variability of forest biomass that is far more explicit than is presently possible using only ground observations. Carbon mitigation policies being implemented by cities around the United States could be designed with the CMS data in mind, enabling sequential evaluation and subsequent improvements in incentives, structures and programs. The success of climate mitigation programs being implemented in the United States today will hang on the depth of the relationship between scientists and their policy and decision making counterparts. Ensuring that there is two-way communication between data providers and users is important for the success both of the policies and the scientific products meant to support them..
Brown, Molly E.↗
Medical Physics Leadership Academy Journal Club (Leadership Club) program: Two-year review in building a community of leaders
The American Association of Physicists in Medicine began the Medical Physics Leadership Academy Journal Club in the fall of 2020. The initiative was launched to provide a forum for medical physicists to learn about leadership topics using published material, discuss and reflect on the material, and consider incorporating the discussed skills into their professional practice. This report presents the framework for the MPLA Journal Club program, describes the lessons learned over the last 2 years, summarizes the data collected from attendees, and highlights the roadmap for the program moving forward.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗