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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Satellite remote sensing for environmental sustainable development goals: A review of applications for terrestrial and marine protected areas

With few years left to achieve the vital United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), member nations must urgently leverage technological advancements in environmental monitoring to succeed. Remote sensing now provides decades of global observations at a variety of spatio-temporal scales and a litany of data products to guide comprehensive measures for climate action, and aquatic and terrestrial biota preservation. Protected areas, such as national parks and wildlife preserves, represent largely untapped resources for both applying robust conservation measures and testing ambitious new approaches to sustainable development that could jumpstart the much-needed adoption of strategies to efficiently pursue global sustainability. This review summarizes recent demonstrated utilities of remotely sensed data applied to protected areas for research related to SDG goals 13, 14, and 15: “Climate Action”, “Life below Water”, and “Life on Land”. We identify successful uses of such data for each SDG, identify areas for improvement, and provide recommendations from the literature on how to expand what others have done to achieve lofty goals with global impact. We demonstrate that remote sensing provides a valuable tool for achieving SDGs as it facilitates monitoring vegetation health, water quality and condition, and climate variables at large spatial and fine temporal scales, while also evaluating the effectiveness of management and conservation practices. Issues remain, however, in that there is currently no reference from which to relate goal progress to human livelihoods. Further, the current relationship between remotely sensed indices and ecological services that determine sustainable development omit steps that would establish this connection.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Dual in-aquifer and near surface processes drive arsenic mobilization in Cambodian groundwaters

Millions of people globally, and particularly in South and Southeast Asia, face chronic exposure to arsenic from reducing groundwaters in which. Arsenic release to is widely attributed largely to reductive dissolution of arsenic-bearing iron minerals, driven by metal reducing bacteria using bioavailable organic matter as an electron donor. However, the nature of the organic matter implicated in arsenic mobilization, and the location within the subsurface where these processes occur, remains debated. In a high resolution study of a largely pristine, shallow aquifer in Kandal Province, Cambodia, we have used a complementary suite of geochemical tracers (including 14 C, 3 H, 3 He, 4 He, Ne, δ 18 O, δD, CFCs and SF 6 ) to study the evolution in arsenic-prone shallow reducing groundwaters along dominant flow paths. The observation of widespread apparent 3 H- 3 He ages of <55years fundamentally challenges some previous models which concluded that groundwater residence times were on the order of hundreds of years. Surface-derived organic matter is transported to depths of >30m, and the relationships between age-related tracers and arsenic suggest that this surface-derived organic matter is likely to contribute to in-aquifer arsenic mobilization. A strong relationship between 3 H- 3 He age and depth suggests the dominance of a vertical hydrological control with an overall vertical flow velocity of ~0.4±0.1m·yr-1 across the field area. A calculated overall groundwater arsenic accumulation rate of ~0.08±0.03μM·yr -1 is broadly comparable to previous estimates from other researchers for similar reducing aquifers in Bangladesh. Although apparent arsenic groundwater accumulation rates varied significantly with site (e.g. between sand versus clay dominated sequences), rates are generally highest near the surface, perhaps reflecting the proximity to the redox cline and/or depth-dependent characteristics of the OM pool, and confounded by localized processes such as continued in-aquifer mobilization, sorption/desorption, and methanogenesis.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Spatial and Temporal Variations in Characteristic Ratios of Elemental Carbon to Carbon Monoxide and Nitrogen Oxides across the United States

Here, a ratio-based method is used to characterize anthropogenic elemental carbon (EC a ) using in situ measurements and emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NO x ). We use long-term records of ground-based measurements from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Quality System and Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments to assess the patterns in anthropogenic combustion ratios (ΔEC a /ΔCO and ΔEC a /ΔNO x ) across the U.S. Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADD) regions for the years 2000-2015. We investigate the change in these ratios between the periods 2000-2007 and 2008-2015. Overall, ΔEC a /ΔCO ratios increase by 0.7-82% and ΔEC a /ΔNO x by 6.8-104% across the East and West PADD regions. The urban West showed the largest increase relative to other regions. This is mainly attributed to a 13-23% increase in ΔEC a during the winter and fall seasons and significant reductions in urban ΔNO x (except in winter). We also find that emission ratios derived from the EPA's National Emission Inventory (NEI) overestimate (underestimate) the increase in the observed enhancement ratios in the East (West). Analyses of changes in NEI emissions in the West reveal (a) smaller reductions in NEI emissions for NO x from the off-road sector and (b) an increase in PM 2.5 (particulate matter 2.5 μm or less in diameter) emissions from commercial/residential combustion and smaller reductions in nonroad emissions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Device Access Abstractions for Resilient Information Architecture Platform for Smart Grid

An open application platform distributes the intelligence and control capability to local endpoints (or nodes) reducing total network traffic, improving speed of local actions by avoiding latency, and improving reliability by reducing dependencies on numerous devices and communication interfaces. The platform must be multi-tasking and able to host multiple applications running simultaneously. Given such a system, the core functions of power grid control systems include grid state determination, low level control, fault intelligence and reconfiguration, outage intelligence, power quality measurement, remote asset monitoring, configuration management, power and energy management (including local distributed energy resources, such as wind, solar and energy storage) can be eventually distributed. However, making this move requires extensive regression testing of systems to prove out new technologies, such as phasor measurement units (PMU). Additionally, as the complexity of the systems increase with the inclusion of new functionality (especially at the distribution and consumer levels), hidden coupling issues becomes a challenge with possible N-way interactions known and not known by device and application developers. Therefore, it is very important to provide core abstractions that ensure uniform operational semantics across such interactions. Here in this paper, we describe the pattern for abstracting device interactions we have developed for the RIAPS platform in the context of a microgrid control application we have developed.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Synchronized Waveforms – A Frontier of Data-Based Power System and Apparatus Monitoring, Protection, and Control

Voltage and current waveforms contain the most authentic and granular information on the behaviors of power systems. In recent years, it has become possible to synchronize waveform data measured from different locations. Thus large-scale coordinated analyses of multiple waveforms over a wide area are within our reach. This development could unleash a set of new concepts, strategies, and tools for monitoring, protecting, and controlling power systems and apparatuses. This paper presents an in-depth review and analysis of the advancements in synchronized waveform data, including measurement devices, data characteristics, use cases, and comparisons with synchrophasor data. Based on the findings, five strategies are proposed to discover and develop synchronized waveform based applications over multiple application areas. The paper also presents three complementary measurement platforms and two data screening algorithms for application implementation. It further discusses committee activities and standard developments useful to explore the full potential of the data.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Exploring Sustainability in Scientific Software through Code Quality & Test Coverage Metrics

Context: Scientific open-source software (SciOSS) plays a foundational role in research and engineering, yet its long-term sustainability has often been overlooked and remains a significant concern. Objective: This study investigates the long-term sustainability of SciOSS through code and test quality metrics. Method: We analyze CASS Software Portfolio projects, classifying them by sustainability and comparing their code structure, test coverage, and links between code quality and testing across the dataset. Results: Sustainable projects show higher, more consistent test coverage and clearer code-test correlations, while unsustainable ones show weaker patterns. Overall, test coverage is low in scientific software, and high complexity and coupling reduce testability. Conclusion: In this study, we present a practical, data-driven approach for assessing sustainability in scientific software, offering a foundation for evaluating long-term software health and supporting future efforts in quality assurance and sustainability monitoring.

Md mushfiqur rahman, Sheikh [University of Tenness↗
DOE OSTI2021

CY2020 Annual Closure Monitoring Report for Corrective Action Unit 98: Frenchman Flat, Underground Test Area, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada (January 2020–December 2020, Revision 1)

This report presents the results of monitoring conducted for water quality, water levels, and institutional controls in calendar year (CY) 2020 by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Management (EM) Nevada Program’s Underground Test Area (UGTA) Activity at Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 98, Frenchman Flat (FF), at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), Nevada (Figure 1-1). This report also presents analytical laboratory results (including results of quality assurance/quality control samples, such as field duplicates [FDs]); and verification of use restrictions (URs), institutional controls, and water use. Groundwater samples were collected; water levels were measured; and well site surveillance was conducted in support of the Underground Test Area (UGTA) Closure Report for Corrective Action Unit 98: Frenchman Flat, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada (NNSA/NFO, 2016) and its ensuing Records of Technical Change (ROTCs).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Closure Monitoring Report for Corrective Action Unit 97: Yucca Flat/Climax Mine, Underground Test Area, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada (Rev.1)

This report presents the results of monitoring conducted for water quality, water levels, and institutional controls in FY 2020 by DOE/EM Nevada Program UGTA Activity at CAU 97, Yucca Flat/Climax Mine at the Nevada National Security Site. This report also presents analytical laboratory results (including results of quality assurance/quality control samples, such as field duplicates); and verification of use restrictions, institutional controls, and water use.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Field Validation of Air-Source Heat Pumps for Cold Climates

Heating energy is the largest end-use for U.S. residential buildings accounting for approximately one-third of residential building energy consumption (EIA 2021). Historically, air-source heat pumps have been limited to temperate climates because of subpar performance at extremely cold outdoor air temperatures. However, recent advances to cold-climate air-source heat pump technology, which typically rely on inverter-driven, variable-speed compressors and variable-speed fans, have significantly improved low-temperature heat pump performance enabling the technology to save energy for many homes in cold climates. The primary objective of this project was to measure in-field performance of centrally ducted, variable-capacity air-source heat pumps in cold climates to validate performance and develop field-based performance maps. The project focused on quantifying heat pump performance at cold temperatures. The sites identified for the study were primarily located in the Northwest United States since homes in the region tend to have all-electric space heating systems and high-efficiency heat pumps have been incentivized in the region for several years. NREL partnered with Ecotope, Inc., a small energy consulting firm located in Seattle, WA, for site recruitment, monitoring equipment installation, data quality management. All the sites included in the study had previously installed a high-efficiency, central heat pump system. One site was in a Denver, CO suburb, which was the only dual fuel heat pump in the study. We used airside and power measurements, collected at 5-second intervals, to quantify heat pump capacity, coefficient of performance (COP), and auxiliary heater energy consumption. We developed algorithms to automatically determine the heat pump operating mode including defrost and auxiliary heating operation. A whole-house thermal and duct audit was completed during the initial site visit to estimate winter heating loads and assess heat pump sizing. Whole-home heating design loads were calculated at ASHRAE 99% design temperatures and compared to manufacturer-reported maximum capacities to assess the heat pump sizing at each site.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Comparison of Machine Learning Methods to Forecast Tropospheric Ozone Levels in Delhi

Ground-level ozone is a pollutant that is harmful to urban populations, particularly in developing countries where it is present in significant quantities. It greatly increases the risk of heart and lung diseases and harms agricultural crops. This study hypothesized that, as a secondary pollutant, ground-level ozone is amenable to 24 h forecasting based on measurements of weather conditions and primary pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. We developed software to analyze hourly records of 12 air pollutants and 5 weather variables over the course of one year in Delhi, India. To determine the best predictive model, eight machine learning algorithms were tuned, trained, tested, and compared using cross-validation with hourly data for a full year. The algorithms, ranked by R2 values, were XGBoost (0.61), Random Forest (0.61), K-Nearest Neighbor Regression (0.55), Support Vector Regression (0.48), Decision Trees (0.43), AdaBoost (0.39), and linear regression (0.39). When trained by separate seasons across five years, the predictive capabilities of all models increased, with a maximum R 2 of 0.75 during winter. Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory was the least accurate model for annual training, but had some of the best predictions for seasonal training. Out of five air quality index categories, the XGBoost model was able to predict the correct category 24 h in advance 90% of the time when trained with full-year data. Separated by season, winter is considerably more predictable (97.3%), followed by post-monsoon (92.8%), monsoon (90.3%), and summer (88.9%). These results show the importance of training machine learning methods with season-specific data sets and comparing a large number of methods for specific applications.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ideas and perspectives: Enhancing research and monitoring of carbon pools and land-to-atmosphere greenhouse gases exchange in developing countries

Carbon (C) and greenhouse gas (GHG) research has traditionally required data collection and analysis using advanced and often expensive instruments, complex and proprietary software, and highly specialized research technicians. Partly as a result, relatively little C and GHG research has been conducted in resource-constrained developing countries. At the same time, these are often the same countries and regions in which climate change impacts will likely be strongest and in which major science uncertainties are centered, given the importance of dryland and tropical systems to the global C cycle. Increasingly, scientific communities have adopted appropriate technology and approach (AT&A) for C and GHG research, which focuses on low-cost and low-technology instruments, open-source software and data, and participatory and networking-based research approaches. Adopting AT&A can mean acquiring data with fewer technical constraints and lower economic burden and is thus a strategy for enhancing C and GHG research in developing countries. However, AT&A can have higher uncertainties; these can often be mitigated by carefully designing experiments, providing clear protocols for data collection, and monitoring and validating the quality of obtained data. For implementing this approach in developing countries, it is first necessary to recognize the scientific and moral importance of AT&A. At the same time, new AT&A techniques should be identified and further developed. All these processes should be promoted in collaboration with local researchers and through training local staff and encouraged for wide use and further innovation in developing countries.

Kim, Dong-Gill↗
NASA NTRS1979

Reaping the space investment

By 1999 operational space systems will be implemented routinely on a worldwide scale in many areas vital to human survival and life quality. Geosynchronous-based monitoring and observation will be extensively used. The Shuttle era will bring in the capability to allow monitoring and identifying pollution sources which fail to stay within required limits. Remotely sensed data over land masses will provide needed facts on renewable and nonrenewable earth resources. New instruments and techniques will have been developed to provide geologists with clues to the declining number of deposits of fuels and minerals. Also, practical methods for predicting earthquakes will have been elaborated by 1999. Communications will see implementation of many of the technological goals of 1978.

Calio, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Determining The Degree Of Graphitization In Carbon Composites

Method for determining degree of graphitization of carbon/carbon composite material combines infrared spectral experimental technique with thermodynamical theoretical model of solubility. By interrupting manufacturing process at almost any time and applying method, one can judge quality of composite and monitor chemical transformations taking place during process. Also computes effective solubility parameter for composite considered as unitary material. Parameter significant for subsequent fabrication steps involving chemical treatments; e.g., coating or joining with adhesives.

Lawson, Daniel D.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Comment on 'A dramatic decrease in the growth rate of atmospheric methane in the Northern Hemisphere during 1992' by E. J. Dlugokencky et al.

The carefully measured decrease in the growth rate of atmospheric methane (CH4) in 1992 reported by Dlugokencky et al. (1994) is an impressive accomplishment, and testimony for the importance of maintaining high-quality, long-term monitoring of atmospheric composition. The changing growth rate of atmospheric CH4 has important implications for assessing and understanding the potential magnitude and rates of a future greenhouse gas-induced climate change. Furthermore, the CH4 data from the current Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL) globally-distributed network of cooperative air sampling sites are clearly the best record of global CH4 trends and distribution currently available. However, we argue briefly here that the speculation by Dlugokencky et al. (1994) on possible mechanisms for the decreased growth rate in 1992 is only one scenario of many that could possibly fit with the constraints imposed by the reported data. Our comments are to (1) illustrate the difficulties of deducing small changes in complex, poorly understood, geographically diverse natural and anthropogenic sources of CH4 from measurements at the remotely-located CMDL sampling sites and (2) emphasize that detailed bottoms-up analyses are necessary to really advance the understanding of changes in source strengths; we are not promoting alternative mechanisms to explain the 1992 decrease in atmospheric CH4.

Hogan, Kathleen B.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Detection, Location, and Classification of Space Shuttle Main Engine Nozzle Leaks by Transient Thermographic Inspection

Leak checking and evaluation of pressure vessels by observing the slight temperature changes resulting from structural anomalies has been made possible through developments in high resolution infrared cameras and advanced image processing. These developments have made thermal nondestructive analysis a very practical and efficient method to determine material consistency and structural quality as well as monitor processes. The Space Shuttle Main Engine Nozzle has regions which can not be inspected with standard leak check methods. The Thermographic methods being developed to nondestructively test the Nozzle for leaks in inaccessible regions are reported. Also, a flash heating Thermographic investigation of the braze line bonding the cooling tubes to the outer structural jacket of the nozzle is reported.

Russell, Samuel S.↗
NASA NTRS1999

SIRTF Science Operations System Design

SIRTF Science Operations System Design William B. Green Manager, SIRTF Science Center California Institute of Technology M/S 310-6 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena CA 91125 (626) 395 8572 Fax (626) 568 0673 bgreen@ipac.caltech.edu. The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) will be launched in December 2001, and perform an extended series of science observations at wavelengths ranging from 20 to 160 microns for five years or more. The California Institute of Technology has been selected as the home for the SIRTF Science Center (SSC). The SSC will be responsible for evaluating and selecting observation proposals, providing technical support to the science community, performing mission planning and science observation scheduling activities, instrument calibration during operations and instrument health monitoring, production of archival quality data products, and management of science research grants. The science payload consists of three instruments delivered by instrument Principal Investigators located at University of Arizona, Cornell, and Harvard Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The SSC is responsible for design, development, and operation of the Science Operations System (SOS) which will support the functions assigned to the SSC by NASA. The SIRTF spacecraft, mission profile, and science instrument design have undergone almost ten years of refinement. SIRTF development and operations activities are highly cost constrained. The cost constraints have impacted the design of the SOS in several ways. The Science Operations System has been designed to incorporate a set of efficient, easy to use tools which will make it possible for scientists to propose observation sequences in a rapid and automated manner. The use of highly automated tools for requesting observations will simplify the long range observatory scheduling process, and the short term scheduling of science observations. Pipeline data processing will be highly automated and data-driven, utilizing a variety of tools developed at JPL, the instrument development teams, and Space Telescope Science Institute to automate processing. An incremental ground data system development approach has been adopted, featuring periodic deliveries that are validated with the flight hardware throughout the various phases of system level development and testing. This approach minimizes development time and decreases operations risk. This paper will describe the top level architecture of the SOS and the basic design concepts. A summary of the incremental development approach will be presented. Examples of the unique science user tools now under final development prior to the first proposal call scheduled for mid-2000 will be shown.

Green, William↗