Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “informal setting”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4

Optimizing Facility Operations by Applying Machine Learning to the Army Reserve Enterprise Building Control System (Final Report)

Thousands of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) buildings have building automation systems (BASs) and/or advanced meters. Although these systems have a wealth of data, performance optimization requires time and expertise to review and act on that information. Machine learning (ML) can provide automated and actionable insights to controls operators. This demonstration implemented proven ML methods on the Army Reserve Enterprise Building Control System. ML refers to algorithms that “learn” from data and improve their performance on a given task over time. In the buildings domain these tasks range from predicting future energy consumption, to identifying operational issues before faults occur, to optimizing control decisions. To learn, ML requires input data, which – for buildings – typically consists of instrument data such as energy consumption data and subsystem controls information such as set-point temperatures, and context data consisting of information such as the physical location of the building, the area of the building, and the weather. ML models use the relationships learned from the input data to make predictions with new, previously unseen, data. The team was able to investigate and successfully implement the following ML use cases: labeling consumption data as anomalous or non-anomalous; baseline whole-building load prediction (unknown fault status); fault detection (validation not possible); and site prioritization for energy-related projects. Due to the constraints of the project, interventions were not able to be implemented during the demonstration; therefore, assessments of operational cost savings and maintenance avoided could not be performed. The project has been presented at two leading national building conferences and two additional publications to peer-reviewed journals are currently in preparation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Atmospheric Carbon and Transport – America (ACT-America) Data Sets: Description, Management, and Delivery

The ACT-America project is a NASA Earth Venture Suborbital-2 mission designed to study the transport and fluxes of greenhouse gases. The open and freely available ACT-America data sets provide airborne in situ measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide, methane, trace gases, aerosols, clouds, and meteorological properties, airborne remote sensing measurements of aerosol backscatter, atmospheric boundary layer height and columnar content of atmospheric carbon dioxide, tower-based measurements, and modeled atmospheric mole fractions and regional carbon fluxes of greenhouse gases over the Central and Eastern United States. In this study, we conducted 121 research flights during five campaigns in four seasons during 2016–2019 over three regions of the US (Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and South) using two NASA research aircraft (B-200 and C-130). We performed three flight patterns (fair weather, frontal crossings, and OCO-2 underflights) and collected more than 1,140 h of airborne measurements via level-leg flights in the atmospheric boundary layer, lower, and upper free troposphere and vertical profiles spanning these altitudes. We also merged various airborne in situ measurements onto a common standard sampling interval, which brings coherence to the data, creates geolocated data products, and makes it much easier for the users to perform holistic analysis of the ACT-America data products. Here, we report on detailed information of data sets collected, the workflow for data sets including storage and processing of the quality controlled and quality assured harmonized observations, and their archival and formatting for users. Finally, we provide some important information on the dissemination of data products including metadata and highlights of applications of ACT-America data sets.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

A Novel Physiologically Based Model of Creatinine Renal Disposition to Integrate Current Knowledge of Systems Parameters and Clinical Observations

Creatinine is the most common clinical biomarker of renal function. As a substrate for renal transporters, its secretion is susceptible to inhibition by drugs, resulting in transient increase in serum creatinine and false impression of damage to kidney. Novel physiologically based models for creatinine were developed here and (dis)qualified in a stepwise manner until consistency with clinical data. Data from a matrix of studies were integrated, including systems data (common to all models), proteomics‐informed in vitro – in vivo extrapolation of all relevant transporter clearances, exogenous administration of creatinine (to estimate endogenous synthesis rate), and inhibition of different renal transporters (11 perpetrator drugs considered for qualification during creatinine model development and verification on independent data sets). The proteomics‐informed bottom‐up approach resulted in the underprediction of creatinine renal secretion. Subsequently, creatinine‐trimethoprim clinical data were used to inform key model parameters in a reverse translation manner, highlighting best practices and challenges for middle‐out optimization of mechanistic models.

Scotcher, Daniel↗

The research challenges in security and safeguards for nuclear fission batteries

This paper discusses the nuclear security and safeguards research challenges presented by the development and deployment of nuclear fission batteries. These are defined as easily transportable and deployable nuclear systems which are designed to operate either unattended or autonomously. We start by defining the current landscape of domestic and international safeguards and security and discuss how it can be affected by the introduction these new nuclear systems. We then specifically discuss the technology gaps and technologies to be developed to facilitate their practical deployment. We find that, as expected, we can leverage conclusions from existing security and safeguards studies for small modular rectors and develop bespoke target set analyses to inform security postures based on probabilistic risk assessment. We find also that specific fission battery security economic analysis tools are needed and security by design must be applied early. However, the most important finding is that these new systems will require a new comprehensive set of cyber tools covering transportation, installation, operation, maintenance security of the fission battery systems. Altogether, we find that the development of the necessary security and safeguards requirements at the design phase of such a technology will be of great benefit in the smooth deployment of this modern nuclear energy system.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Space-time generalization of mutual information

The mutual information characterizes correlations between spatially separated regions of a system. Yet, in experiments we often measure dynamical correlations, which involve probing operators that are also separated in time. Here, we introduce a space-time generalization of mutual information which, by construction, satisfies several natural properties of the mutual information and at the same time characterizes correlations across subsystems that are separated in time. In particular, this quantity, that we call the space-time mutual information, bounds all dynamical correlations. We construct this quantity based on the idea of the quantum hypothesis testing. As a by-product, our definition provides a transparent interpretation in terms of an experimentally accessible setup. We draw connections with other notions in quantum information theory, such as quantum channel discrimination. Finally, we study the behavior of the space-time mutual information in several settings and contrast its long-time behavior in many-body localizing and thermalizing systems.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Model Package Report: Geoframework Model of the Hanford Site 100 Area

The purpose of the 100 Area Geoframework Model (GFM) is to provide a reasonable, consistent, and defensible three dimensional representation of the hydrostratigraphic units below the River Corridor at the Hanford Site to support contaminant fate and transport models. The GFM is a three dimensional representation of the subsurface geologic structure. From this, three dimensional geologic model-exported results, in the form of points or surfaces, are used as inputs to populate and assemble the various numerical model architectures. The objective of this report is to define the process used to produce a hydrostratigraphic model for the hydrostratigraphic units beneath the Hanford Site 100 Area. The GFM may support several other CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company project needs and objectives, including providing geologic information to support remedial investigations and actions and as a tool to present River Corridor geology and contaminant extents. The GFM was constructed based on information through 2019 available in the Integrated Data Management System, Hanford Environmental Information System, and the Hanford Site geologic contacts (GeoContacts) datasets. Revisions to the 100 Area GFM may occur to incorporate new data and information. Each version will be maintained in configuration control using date stamps for identifying supporting databases, figures, and interpretations. Supporting data include the final three dimensional geoframework surfaces, two dimensional structure and isopach maps, and all the geologic contact inputs and interpreted geologic log data. These final products provide a supporting set of geologic information that together allow the creation of the GFM. This information is managed, updated, and maintained via CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company under the Environmental Model Management Archive.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Universal framework for simultaneous tomography of quantum states and SPAM noise

We present a general denoising algorithm for performing simultaneous tomography of quantum states and measurement noise. This algorithm allows us to fully characterize state preparation and measurement (SPAM) errors present in any quantum system. Our method is based on the analysis of the properties of the linear operator space induced by unitary operations. Given any quantum system with a noisy measurement apparatus, our method can output the quantum state and the noise matrix of the detector up to a single gauge degree of freedom. We show that this gauge freedom is unavoidable in the general case, but this degeneracy can be generally broken using prior knowledge on the state or noise properties, thus fixing the gauge for several types of state-noise combinations with no assumptions about noise strength. Such combinations include pure quantum states with arbitrarily correlated errors, and arbitrary states with block independent errors. This framework can further use available prior information about the setting to systematically reduce the number of observations and measurements required for state and noise detection. Our method effectively generalizes existing approaches to the problem, and includes as special cases common settings considered in the literature requiring an uncorrelated or invertible noise matrix, or specific probe states.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

An Ensemble Score Filter for Tracking High-Dimensional Nonlinear Dynamical Systems

We propose an ensemble score filter (EnSF) for solving high-dimensional nonlinear filtering problems with superior accuracy. A major drawback of existing filtering methods, e.g., particle filters or ensemble Kalman filters, is the low accuracy in handling high-dimensional and highly nonlinear problems. EnSF attacks this challenge by exploiting the score-based diffusion model, defined in a pseudo-temporal domain, to characterizing the evolution of the filtering density. EnSF stores the information of the recursively updated filtering density function in the score function, in stead of storing the information in a set of finite Monte Carlo samples (used in particle filters and ensemble Kalman filters). Unlike existing diffusion models that train neural networks to approximate the score function, we develop a training-free score estimation that uses mini-batch-based Monte Carlo estimator to directly approximate the score function at any pseudo-spatial-temporal location, which provides sufficient accuracy in solving high-dimensional nonlinear problems as well as saves tremendous amount of time spent on training neural networks. Another essential aspect of EnSF is its analytical update step, gradually incorporating data information into the score function, which is crucial in mitigating the degeneracy issue faced when dealing with very high-dimensional nonlinear filtering problems. High-dimensional Lorenz systems are used to demonstrate the performance of our method. EnSF provides surprisingly impressive performance in reliably tracking extremely high-dimensional Lorenz systems (up to 1,000,000 dimension) with highly nonlinear observation processes, which is a well-known challenging problem for existing filtering methods.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Hubble constant difference between CMB lensing and BAO measurements

We apply a tension metric QUDM, the update difference in mean parameters, to understand the source of the difference in the measured Hubble constant H0 inferred with cosmic microwave background lensing measurements from the Planck satellite (H 0 = $67.9$ $^{+1.1}_{–1.3}$ km/s/Mpc) and from the South Pole Telescope (H 0 = $72.0$ $^{+2.1}_{–2.5}$ km/s/Mpc) when both are combined with baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements with priors on the baryon density (BBN). Q UDM isolates the relevant parameter directions for tension or concordance where the two data sets are both informative, and aids in the identification of subsets of data that source the observed tension. With Q UDM , we uncover that the difference in H 0 is driven by the tension between Planck lensing and BAO+BBN, at probability-to-exceed of 6.6%. Most of this mild tension comes from the galaxy BAO measurements parallel to the line of sight in the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.75. Here, the redshift dependence of the parallel BAOs pulls both the matter density Ω m and H 0 high in Λ CDM, but these parameter anomalies are usually hidden when the BAO measurements are combined with other cosmological data sets with much stronger Ω m constraints.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Dark energy survey year 1 results: Constraining baryonic physics in the Universe

ABSTRACT Measurements of large-scale structure are interpreted using theoretical predictions for the matter distribution, including potential impacts of baryonic physics. We constrain the feedback strength of baryons jointly with cosmology using weak lensing and galaxy clustering observables (3 × 2pt) of Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 data in combination with external information from baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and Planck cosmic microwave background polarization. Our baryon modelling is informed by a set of hydrodynamical simulations that span a variety of baryon scenarios; we span this space via a Principal Component (PC) analysis of the summary statistics extracted from these simulations. We show that at the level of DES Y1 constraining power, one PC is sufficient to describe the variation of baryonic effects in the observables, and the first PC amplitude (Q1) generally reflects the strength of baryon feedback. With the upper limit of Q1 prior being bound by the Illustris feedback scenarios, we reach $\sim 20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ improvement in the constraint of $S_8=\sigma _8(\Omega _{\rm m}/0.3)^{0.5}=0.788^{+0.018}_{-0.021}$ compared to the original DES 3 × 2pt analysis. This gain is driven by the inclusion of small-scale cosmic shear information down to 2.5 arcmin, which was excluded in previous DES analyses that did not model baryonic physics. We obtain $S_8=0.781^{+0.014}_{-0.015}$ for the combined DES Y1+Planck EE+BAO analysis with a non-informative Q1 prior. In terms of the baryon constraints, we measure $Q_1=1.14^{+2.20}_{-2.80}$ for DES Y1 only and $Q_1=1.42^{+1.63}_{-1.48}$ for DESY1+Planck EE+BAO, allowing us to exclude one of the most extreme AGN feedback hydrodynamical scenario at more than 2σ.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Augmenting subspace optimization methods with linear bandits

In this work, we consider the framework of methods for unconstrained minimization that are, in each iteration, restricted to a model that is only a valid approximation to the objective function on some affine subspace containing an incumbent point. These methods are of practical interest in computational settings where derivative information is either expensive or impossible to obtain. Recent attention has been paid in the literature to employing randomized matrix sketching for generating the affine subspaces within this framework. We consider a relatively straightforward, deterministic augmentation of such a generic subspace optimization method. In particular, we consider a sequential optimization framework where actions consist of one-dimensional linear subspaces and rewards consist of (approximations to) the magnitudes of directional derivatives computed in the direction of the action subspace. Reward maximization in this context is consistent with maximizing lower bounds on descent guaranteed by first-order Taylor models. This sequential optimization problem can be analysed through the lens of dynamic regret. We modify an existing linear upper confidence bound (UCB) bandit method and prove sublinear dynamic regret in the subspace optimization setting. We demonstrate the efficacy of employing this linear UCB method in a setting where forward-mode algorithmic differentiation can provide directional derivatives in arbitrary directions and in a derivative-free setting. For the derivative-free setting, we propose SS-POUNDers, an extension of the derivative-free optimization method POUNDers that employs the linear UCB mechanism to identify promising subspaces. Our numerical experiments suggest a preference, in either computational setting, for employing a linear UCB mechanism within a subspace optimization method.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

CyProduct: A software tool for accurately predicting the byproducts of human cytochrome P450 metabolism

In silico metabolism prediction is a cheminformatic task of autonomously predicting the set of metabolic byproducts produced from a specified molecule and a set of enzymes or reactions. Here we describe a novel machine-learned in silico cytochrome P450 (CYP450) metabolism prediction suite, called CyProduct, that accurately predicts metabolic byproducts for a specified molecule and a human CYP450 isoform. It includes three modules: (1) CypReact, a tool that predicts if the query compound reacts with a given CYP450 enzyme; (2) CypBoM, a tool that accurately predicts the “bond site” of the reaction (i.e., which specific bonds within the query molecule react with the CYP isoform); and (3) MetaboGen, a tool that generates the metabolic byproducts based on CypBoM’s bond-site prediction. CyProduct predicts metabolic biotransformation products for each of the nine most important human CYP450 enzymes. CypBoM uses an important new concept called “Bond of Metabolism” (BoM), which extends the traditional “Site of Metabolism" (SoM) by specifying the information about the set of chemical bonds that is modified or formed in a metabolic reaction (rather than the specific atom). We created a BoM database for 3487 CYP450-mediated Phase I reactions, then used this to train the CypBoM Predictor to predict the reactive bond locations on substrate molecules. CypBoM Predictor’s cross-validated Jaccard score for reactive bond prediction ranged from 0.380 to 0.452 over the nine CYP450 enzymes. Over variants of a test set of 72 known CYP450 substrates and 30 non-reactants, CyProduct outperformed the other packages -- including ADMET Predictor, BioTransformer and GLORY -- by an average of 200% (wrt Jaccard score) in terms of predicting metabolites. The CyProduct suite and the datasets are freely available at https://bitbucket.org/wishartlab/cyproduct/src/master/.

Machine learning, Cytochrome P450, Metabolism pred↗

Can fractal dimensions objectivize gastropod shell morphometrics? A case study from Lake Lugu (SW China)

1. Morphometrics are fundamental for the analysis of size and shape in fossils, particularly because soft parts or DNA are rarely preserved and hard parts such as shells are commonly the only source of information. Geometric morphometrics, that is, landmark analysis, is well established for the description of shape but it exhibits a couple of shortcomings resulting from subjective choices during landmarking (number and position of landmarks) and from difficulties in resolving shape at the level of micro-sculpture. 2. With the aid of high-resolution 3D scanning technology and analyses of fractal dimensions, we test whether such shortcomings of linear and landmark morphometrics can be overcome. As a model group, we selected a clade of modern viviparid gastropods from Lake Lugu, with shells that show a high degree of sculptural variation. Linear and landmark analyses were applied to the same shells in order to establish the fractal dimensions. 3. The genetic diversity of the gastropod clade was assessed. The genetic results suggest that the gastropod clade represents a single species. The results of all morphometric methods applied are in line with the genetic results, which is that no specific morphotype could be delimited. Apart from this overall agreement, landmark and fractal dimension analyses do not correspond to each other but represent data sets with different information. Generally, the fractal dimension values quantify the roughness of the shell surface, the resolution of the 3D scans determining the level. In our approach, we captured the micro-sculpture but not the first-order sculptural elements, which explains that fractal dimension and landmark data are not in phase. 4. We can show that analyzing fractal dimensions of gastropod shells opens a window to more detailed information that can be considered in evolutionary and ecological contexts. We propose that using low-resolution 3D scans may successfully substitute landmark analyses because it overcomes the subjective landmarking. Analyses of 3D scans with higher resolution than used in this study will provide surface roughness information at the mineralogical level. We suggest that fractal dimension analyses of a combination of differently resolved 3D models will significantly improve the quality of shell morphometrics.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Measures of Holographic Correlation: Discovery, Interpretation, Application (Final Report)

The main goals of this project were twofold: (1) to find measures of quantum correlations that are amenable to interpretation in a holographic context, and use these measures to develop a more detailed understanding of holography itself and (2) To use insights developed in a holographic setting to better understand the theory of quantum information in more traditional (nonholographic) settings.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Predicting a Sharp Decline in Selectivity for Catalytic Esterification of Alcohols from van der Waals Interactions

Controlling the selectivity of catalytic reactions is a critical aspect of improving energy efficiency in the chemical industry; thus, predictive models are of key importance. Herein the performance of a heterogeneous, nanoporous Au catalyst is predicted for the complex catalytic self-coupling of the series of C 2 -C 4 alkyl alcohols, based solely on the known kinetics of the elementary steps of the catalytic cycle for methanol coupling, using scaling methods augmented by density functional theory. Notably, a sharp decrease in selectivity for ester formation with increasing molecular weight to favor the aldehyde due to van der Waals interactions of reaction intermediates with the surface was predicted and subsequently verified quantitatively by experiment. Furthermore, the agreement between theory and experiment clearly demonstrates the efficacy of this approach for building a predictive model of catalytic behavior for a homologous set of reactants using a small set of experimental information.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Predicting a Sharp Decline in Selectivity for Catalytic Esterification of Alcohols from van der Waals Interactions

Controlling the selectivity of catalytic reactions is a critical aspect of improving energy efficiency in the chemical industry; thus, predictive models are of key importance. Herein the performance of a heterogeneous, nanoporous Au catalyst is predicted for the complex catalytic self-coupling of the series of C 2 –C 4 alkyl alcohols, based solely on the known kinetics of the elementary steps of the catalytic cycle for methanol coupling, using scaling methods augmented by density functional theory. Notably, a sharp decrease in selectivity for ester formation with increasing molecular weight to favor the aldehyde due to van der Waals interactions of reaction intermediates with the surface was predicted and subsequently verified quantitatively by experiment. Further, the agreement between theory and experiment clearly demonstrates the efficacy of this approach for building a predictive model of catalytic behavior for a homologous set of reactants using a small set of experimental information.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Automated detection of photovoltaic cleaning events: A performance comparison of techniques as applied to a broad set of labeled photovoltaic data sets

Extracting accurate soiling loss information from photovoltaic (PV) production data first requires segmenting the time series data per natural or manually occurring cleaning events. Maintenance logs are often incomplete, rain data are often unavailable, and the debate on rain thresholds for cleaning and dew or wind cleanings is still ongoing. The present work aims to overtake these issues by improving automated methods to detect these cleaning events and therefore improve extraction of soiling loss information. Time series power production data from 22 PV inverters were labeled for natural or manually occurring cleaning events. The data sets were carefully selected to include varying degrees of soiling, cleaning events, and noise. Several algorithms, including filtering logic and change point detection, were examined for efficacy at detecting the labeled cleanings. All the methods introduced except for changepoint detection showed significant improvement at detecting the labeled cleaning events per the mean F 1 score. Furthermore, the highest performing cleaning detection algorithm achieved an absolute increase in the mean F 1 score of 43% over the default version of the RdTools stochastic rate and recovery (SRR) algorithm. The highest performing algorithm included irradiance filtering and a cleaning detection threshold, adjusted based on the 40-day centered rolling median of the absolute day-to-day deviations in the daily performance index (PI). Furthermore, these improvements are promising as cleaning detection is an essential step in the automated analysis of PV soiling.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Calibration and uncertainty quantification for Davis Equation of State models for the High Explosive PBX 9501 products

Abstract This paper investigates the uncertainty in the parameters used in the calibration of an Davis Equation Of State (EOS) for the detonation products of the High Explosive PBX 9501. The procedure sought to make use of all available information about this HE to inform the best set of calibration parameters as well as the uncertainty in these parameters. The procedure made use of historical experimental data, the results from thermo‐chemical modeling as well as data on the best isentrope function fit to cylinder test experimental data. Combining all these heterogeneous data sources together in a Bayesian calibration, yielded a posterior mean and covariance. Sampling from the posterior distribution and evaluating an important Quantity Of Interest (QOI) in the EOS model, the detonation speed of a one‐inch rate stick, produced a distribution which showed variations which were in agreement with experiments. The uncertainty in the EOS was reported as eleven sets of model calibrations which spanned the range of this QOI.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗