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NASA NTRS2010

THEMIS Observations of Directly-Driven Pi2 Pulsations

The THEMIS tail seasons have provided an unprecedented opportunity to examine the causal relationship between midtail plasma flows and low latitude Pi2 pulsations. We present several events where multiple THEMIS spacecraft observed magnetotail flow bursts which were followed up to several minutes later by ground Pi2 pulsations. We find good agreement with the waveforms of the flow bursts and flank Pi2, in agreement with the hypothesis that Pi2 at low-latitude on the flank are directly-driven by periodic variations in the flow bursts. For at least I event we are able to follow the Pi2 impulses from the periodic flow bursts on the nightside. to ground Pi2 at the flanks, and finally through the dayside magnetosphere as observed by GOES. We further place the physical mechanism generating these Pi2 into the context of sub storm onset. We conclude by discussing the sequence and coupling of events that are necessary to explain the correlation, and the constraints this places on models of transient magnetospheric transport.

Kepko, L.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Local Estimators for Spacecraft Formation Flying

A formation estimation architecture for formation flying builds upon the local information exchange among multiple local estimators. Spacecraft formation flying involves the coordination of states among multiple spacecraft through relative sensing, inter-spacecraft communication, and control. Most existing formation flying estimation algorithms can only be supported via highly centralized, all-to-all, static relative sensing. New algorithms are needed that are scalable, modular, and robust to variations in the topology and link characteristics of the formation exchange network. These distributed algorithms should rely on a local information-exchange network, relaxing the assumptions on existing algorithms. In this research, it was shown that only local observability is required to design a formation estimator and control law. The approach relies on breaking up the overall information-exchange network into sequence of local subnetworks, and invoking an agreement-type filter to reach consensus among local estimators within each local network. State estimates were obtained by a set of local measurements that were passed through a set of communicating Kalman filters to reach an overall state estimation for the formation. An optimization approach was also presented by means of which diffused estimates over the network can be incorporated in the local estimates obtained by each estimator via local measurements. This approach compares favorably with that obtained by a centralized Kalman filter, which requires complete knowledge of the raw measurement available to each estimator.

Fathpour, Nanaz↗

DOE OSTI2022

Natural variation and improved genome annotation of the emerging biofuel crop field pennycress ( Thlaspi arvense )

The Brassicaceae family comprises more than 3,700 species with a diversity of phenotypic characteristics, including seed oil content and composition. Recently, the global interest in Thlaspi arvense L. (pennycress) has grown as the seed oil composition makes it a suitable source for biodiesel and aviation fuel production. However, many wild traits of this species need to be domesticated to make pennycress ideal for cultivation. Molecular breeding and engineering efforts require the availability of an accurate genome sequence of the species. Here, we describe pennycress genome annotation improvements, using a combination of long- and short-read transcriptome data obtained from RNA derived from embryos of 22 accessions, in addition to public genome and gene expression information. Our analysis identified 27,213 protein-coding genes, as well as on average 6,188 biallelic SNPs. In addition, we used the identified SNPs to evaluate the population structure of our accessions. The data from this analysis support that the accession Ames 32872, originally from Armenia, is highly divergent from the other accessions, while the accessions originating from Canada and the United States cluster together. When we evaluated the likely signatures of natural selection from alternative SNPs, we found 7 candidate genes under likely recent positive selection. These genes are enriched with functions related to amino acid metabolism and lipid biosynthesis and highlight possible future targets for crop improvement efforts in pennycress.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2018

Environmental resource deficit may drive the evolution of intraspecific trait variation in invasive plant populations

Intraspecific trait variation within natural populations (i.e. intra-population trait variation, IPTV) is the basic source for selection and can have significant ecological consequences. Higher IPTV may increase a population's niche breath and benefit interspecies competition under a resource-limited environment, thus affecting the ability of a species to move into novel habitats. However, the reciprocal influences of variation in environmental conditions and phenotypic trait expression in spreading plant populations are not clearly defined. Here, we propose that during invasion, IPTV and its relative change in response to key resource enrichment may increase with the resource deficit of invaded sites, and that this relationship may facilitate plant invasions into resource-limited environments. We analyzed the invasion trend, IPTV and its response to water enrichment, and moisture variability among populations of an annual grass Brachypodium hybridum in California, United States. We incorporated a genotyping-by-sequencing approach, a common garden experiment that had two water level treatments, and public plant and climate databases. Our hypothesis was supported by the observation that for populations that invaded sites with higher spring moisture deficit, both their seed biomass IPTV (for the water-enriched treatment only) and relative change of the IPTV across water treatments were larger when examined in the common garden experiment. A generally north to south spreading direction was found in these B. hybridum populations, towards a drier and warmer climate exhibiting higher moisture deficit for plant growth. Our results suggest a role for interactions between IPTV (rather than trait means) and environmental resource availability in promoting plant invasions, providing new insights into the significance of IPTV in shaping plant geographic distributions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

Microbial legacies alter decomposition in response to simulated global change

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Fungal and bacterial growth variation due to drought and nitrogen addition experimental treatments. Loma Ridge Experimental Project. 2010-2012

Terrestrial ecosystem models assume that microbial communities respond instantaneously, or are immediately resilient, to environmental change. Here we tested this assumption by quantifying the resilience of a leaf litter community to changes in precipitation or nitrogen availability. By manipulating composition within a global change experiment, we decoupled the legacies of abiotic parameters versus that of the microbial community itself. After one rainy season, more variation in fungal composition could be explained by the original microbial inoculum than the litterbag environment (18% versus 5.5% of total variation). This compositional legacy persisted for 3 years, when 6% of the variability in fungal composition was still explained by the microbial origin. In contrast, bacterial composition was generally more resilient than fungal composition. Microbial functioning (measured as decomposition rate) was not immediately resilient to the global change manipulations; decomposition depended on both the contemporary environment and rainfall the year prior. Finally, using metagenomic sequencing, we showed that changes in precipitation, but not nitrogen availability, altered the potential for bacterial carbohydrate degradation, suggesting why the functional consequences of the two experiments may have differed. Predictions of how terrestrial ecosystem processes respond to environmental change may thus be improved by considering the legacies of microbial communities. This data package includes ten csv files (five data files and their corresponding data dictionaries) and one file-level metadata excel file. Data files contains information about which plots were exposed to treatments related to drought and nitrogen, information about litter bags reciprocal transplants manipulation for water input and nitrogen, detail information about water addition, precipitation records, and litter variables collected. Data dictionary files include detail explanation for each column in the data files. The file-level metadata file describes each file mentioned above. All the analyses were done using the R software.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

Genetics and Genomics of Pathogen Resistance in Switchgrass (Final Report)

This project was funded by DOE under Grant no. DE-SC0016108. Originally approved for the 2016-2019 period, two no-cost extensions were solicited and approved, which prolonged the lifespan through July 2021. This final report informs on the results obtained so far from the research implemented. The research hinged on integrating genomics (genomic selection, RNAseq, virus-plant interactions) with classical genetics (conventional breeding) to incorporate durable resistance to fungal (rust) and viral (mosaic) diseases in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) populations being bred for bioenergy. Higher biomass yield, higher quality (low lignin content), and durable disease resistance are key features to make lignocellulosic switchgrass feedstocks economically competitive and sustainable. Genomic selection is being applied on three generations of a switchgrass population derived from crossing two ecotypes (Kanlow as lowland female and Summer as upland male) with differential performance in terms of biomass yield and quality, disease resistance, and winter survivability. Target populations were screened for rust and mosaic in field and/or lab and phenotyped for biomass yield and quality traits. Genetic analyses were applied across generations to capture the joint inheritance of the targeted traits and predict breeding values for parents and progeny with greater accuracy. Parental and a panel of different switchgrass populations were genotyped with the DArTseq technology to develop SNP (0, 1, 2) and in-silico (presence/absence) DArT markers. Rust inoculations techniques were developed and applied successfully on switchgrass. The original populations (Kanlow and Summer) were sequenced with RNAseq to capture the gene expression profiles across sequential time-points and appraise the basis of greater resistance in the Kanlow vs the Summer ecotype. Constructs of PMV and sPMV mosaic virus were assembled and tested first on proso millet to find the best protocol to use later on switchgrass. Results from the preliminary analyses indicate that 1) ample additive genetic variation is available for selection and improving this inter-ecotypic population for yield, quality, and disease traits, 2) significant gains are to be expected with the genetic correlations being favorable between yield and lignin content and between yield and disease ratings, 3) substantial differences exist in the genetic regions controlling rust resistance in the two ecotypes, 4) co-infection with PMV isolates from Nebraska and its satellite from Kansas elicit severe mosaic symptoms, and 5) two different genetic systems are responsible for imparting resistance to rust and virus in switchgrass.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

KIC 12602250: A Low-amplitude Double-mode Delta Scuti Star with Amplitude Modulation

We report a detailed light-curve analysis of the Kepler target Kepler Input Catalog (KIC) 12602250. The results show that KIC 12602250 is a low-amplitude radial double-mode δ-Scuti star with amplitude modulation. The Fourier analysis of the long cadence data (i.e., Q0—Q17, spanning 1471 days) reveals that the variations of the light curve are dominated by the strongest mode with frequency F0 = 11.6141 d{sup -1}, suggesting that KIC 12602250 is a δ-Scuti star. The other independent mode F1 = 14.9741 d{sup -1} is newly detected. The amplitude of the light variations of KIC 12602250 is ~0.06 mag, which indicates that this is a low-amplitude δ-Scuti star; but the ratio of F0/F1 is estimated as 0.7756, which is typical of HADS, and a slow amplitude growth is detected in F1 and f {sub 3}, which could be due to stellar evolution, suggesting that KIC 12602250 could be a post-main-sequence δ Scuti that is crossing the instability strip for the first time.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1984

Quantification of waste morphology in Martian fretted terrain

Qualitative and quantitative analyses are performed on the northern fretted terrain of the Martian Isnenius Lacus quadrangle to determine the formation processes. The fretted terrain lies between 35-50 deg N latitude and 305-350 deg W longitude and was mapped with Viking orbiter instrumentation. The dominant landforms are a sequence of heavily cratered terrain, scattered flat-floored, fretted valleys, linear waste-covered valleys between flat-topped mesas, circum-mesa debris areas, a transition from mesas to knobby terrain, fewer upland forms, and low-relief, mantled, polar plains. The features spread out from a cratered terrain boundary in a succession of shapes. A principal components analysis characterizes definable spatial variations in the surface morphology and suggests that the features are youngest in the southwest direction. Relationships are also found between neighboring features. The principal components analysis technique is concluded to be a valuable tool for explaining the geomorphic evolution of the Martian surface.

Kochel, R. C.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Multiplexed CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis of rice PSBS1 noncoding sequences for transgene-free overexpression

Understanding CRISPR-Cas9’s capacity to produce native overexpression (OX) alleles would accelerate agronomic gains achievable by gene editing. To generate OX alleles with increased RNA and protein abundance, we leveraged multiplexed CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis of noncoding sequences upstream of the rice PSBS1 gene. We isolated 120 gene-edited alleles with varying non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) capacity in vivo—from knockout to overexpression—using a high-throughput screening pipeline. Overexpression increased OsPsbS1 protein abundance two- to threefold, matching fold changes obtained by transgenesis. Increased PsbS protein abundance enhanced NPQ capacity and water-use efficiency. Across our resolved genetic variation, we identify the role of 5'UTR indels and inversions in driving knockout/knockdown and overexpression phenotypes, respectively. Complex structural variants, such as the 252-kb duplication/inversion generated here, evidence the potential of CRISPR-Cas9 to facilitate significant genomic changes with negligible off-target transcriptomic perturbations. Our results may inform future gene-editing strategies for hypermorphic alleles and have advanced the pursuit of gene-edited, non-transgenic rice plants with accelerated relaxation of photoprotection.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Exploring Whether Subsurface Fluid Production Can Minimize Triggered Seismicity in Geothermal Fields

Fluid injection and production related to energy recovery and other industrial operations alter the pressure and stress state of subsurface reservoirs which can lead to induced seismicity. Here, the primary goal is to investigate the hypothesis that the modulation of stress state in subsurface reservoirs through fluid injection/production operations can reduce the likelihood of inducing seismicity. Validation of this mitigation strategy will provide an active operational method to control induced seismicity in subsurface reservoir exploitations such as geothermal energy recovery and carbon storage. In this project, we analyze the relationship between extensive fluid production and the paucity of aftershock activity at the Coso Geothermal plant (CGP) following the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence, where high rates of aftershock triggering were expected. We developed a high-fidelity multiphase coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) model to simulate fluid injection/production activities at the CGP between 1986 and 2020. THM results of surface subsidence due to high rates of fluid production agree well with field observations from global positioning system (GPS) and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR). Subsequently, the variations of pore pressure, temperature and stress state were used to drive numerical earthquake simulations of the aftershock response to the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes. The earthquake simulations show that seismic quiescence may occur following the Ridgecrest event, depending on the initial stress state at the time of the mainshock and at the initiation of geothermal energy production. Seismic quiescence occurs in 20% of the cases we explored, where rates are decreased by 50% of the background rate in the two years following the mainshock. In circumstances where aftershock rates increase near the CGP following Ridgecrest, the average rate change is a factor of two larger than background rates from simulations with no operations. These findings indicate that unlike many other operations that bring faults closer to failure, operations at the CGP are acting to stabilize faults such that triggering in the current stress state is minimal.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1977

Rare earth and trace element geochemistry of a fragment of Jurassic seafloor, Point Sal, California

Rocks from an ophiolite suite once on the seafloor were analyzed for rare earth elements (REE), Sc, Co, Na2O, Cr, Zn and FeO. Strontium isotope exchange noted in some of the lavas is attributed to basalt-seawater interaction; the Ce abundance in smectite- and zeolite-bearing lavas may also be due to prolonged exposure to seawater. The higher grades of metamorphic rock, however, show no variation from the usual flat or slightly light REE depleted profiles. Plutonic igneous rock, all light REE depleted, have total REE abundances varying by a factor of 100 between the dunites and diorites. In order of decreasing REE abundance are hornblende, clinopyroxene, plagioclase, orthopyroxene and olivine. Calculations of REE contents of liquids in equilibrium with early cumulative clinopyroxenes suggest that the parent to the stratiform sequence was more depleted in light REE than the parent to the lava pile.

Menzies, M.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Recurrent mass ejections observed in H-alpha and CIV

Time sequences of recurrent mass ejections have been observed during a coordinated SMY program (Sept. 1, 1980 - Sept. 23, 1980 - Oct. 2, 1980). Comparison of the temporal evolution of H-alpha and CIV brightnesses shows a weak phase lag between H-alpha and CIV maxima, in the case of homologous flares, with CIV brightness maxima preceding H-alpha maxima. The analysis of the variation of the ejection velocities is expected to lead to the determination of an energy balance. Such recurrent ejections could be due to periodic energy storage and periodic reorganization of magnetic field as envisaged to occur for flares, but at lower energy levels.

Schmieder, B.↗

NASA NTRS1994

HD 129333: The Sun in its infancy

HD 129333 is a remarkable young, nearby solar-type G star which offers a unique opportunity of studying the properties of the Sun at a time very shortly after in arrived on the main sequence. Its space motion suggest that it is a member of the Pleiades moving group, with an age of approximately 70 Myr; its lithium abundance is consistent with this. HD 129333 has the highest level of Ca II emission of any G star which is not a member of a close binary. Our observations in 1983 showed it to have low-amplitude (5%) light variations implying a rotation period of about 2.7 days, or about 10 times faster than the Sun. Modeling of the photometric variations on the assumption that they are due to starspots yields a spot temperature about 500 K cooler than the photosphere, and a coverage of about 6% of the stellar surface area. ROSAT observations in 1990 revealed the star to be an X-ray source, with an X-ray luminosity in the 0.2 to 2.4 keV range about 300 times that of the Sun. We have used International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) observations in conjuction with ground-based photometry to examine the magnetic activity of this star. The IUE emission-line fluxes reveal a level of chromospheric activity 3 to 20 times greater than the Sun's. The transition-region activity is 20 to 100 times that of the Sun. The activity level of HD 129333 is consistent with the Skumanich law relating activity to age, and with the rotation-activity relation, although it may be near saturation level. This star can yield valuable information about the magnetic dynamo of the young Sun, as well as about stellar dynamos in general. The 1988 IUE observations covered four phases of its rotational cycle. A phase dependence of the Mg II h and k emission flux suggests a close association of chromospheric plages with starspot regions at that time. Systematic variations in the mean brightness of HD 129333 between 1983 and 1993, and in the UV emission fluxes, indicate the presence of an activity cycle of an estimated 12 years' duration. HD 129333 is the first solar-type star other than RS CVn binaries for which luminosity variations provide evidence for a spot cycle. Unlike the Sun, which is brighter at activity maximum HD 129333 appears to be fainter when more heavily spotted. Although evolutionary models for the Sun suggest that it was about 30% less luminous at age 70 Myr, they give no information about the UV flux. Accordingly, we have used the 1988 IUE observations of HD 129333 to construct a model spectrum of the infant Sun, which can be used to provide a quantitative estimate of the UV flux in the early solar system.

Dorren, J. David↗

NASA NTRS1998

Performance of Low Dissipative High Order Shock-Capturing Schemes for Shock-Turbulence Interactions

Accurate and efficient direct numerical simulation of turbulence in the presence of shock waves represents a significant challenge for numerical methods. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of high order compact and non-compact central spatial differencing employing total variation diminishing (TVD) shock-capturing dissipations as characteristic based filters for two model problems combining shock wave and shear layer phenomena. A vortex pairing model evaluates the ability of the schemes to cope with shear layer instability and eddy shock waves, while a shock wave impingement on a spatially-evolving mixing layer model studies the accuracy of computation of vortices passing through a sequence of shock and expansion waves. A drastic increase in accuracy is observed if a suitable artificial compression formulation is applied to the TVD dissipations. With this modification to the filter step the fourth-order non-compact scheme shows improved results in comparison to second-order methods, while retaining the good shock resolution of the basic TVD scheme. For this characteristic based filter approach, however, the benefits of compact schemes or schemes with higher than fourth order are not sufficient to justify the higher complexity near the boundary and/or the additional computational cost.

Sandham, N. D.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Performance of Low Dissipative High Order Shock-Capturing Schemes for Shock-Turbulence Interactions

Abstract Accurate and efficient direct numerical simulation of turbulence in the presence of shock waves represents a significant challenge for numerical methods. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of high order compact and non-compact central spatial differencing employing total variation diminishing (TVD) shock-capturing dissipations as characteristic based filters for two model problems combining shock wave and shear layer phenomena. A vortex pairing model evaluates the ability of the schemes to cope with shear layer instability and eddy shock waves, while a shock wave impingement on a spatially-evolving mixing layer model studies the accuracy of computation of vortices passing through a sequence of shock and expansion waves. A drastic increase in accuracy is observed if a suitable artificial compression formulation is applied to the TVD dissipations. With this modification to the filter step the fourth-order non-compact scheme shows improved results in comparison to second-order methods, while retaining the good shock resolution of the basic TVD scheme. For this characteristic based filter approach, however, the benefits of compact schemes or schemes with higher than fourth order are not sufficient to justify the higher complexity near the boundary and/or the additional computational cost.

Sandham, N. D.↗

DOE OSTI2019

India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 Summary of Scientific Results: Gas Hydrate Systems Along the Eastern Continental Margin of India

The India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 (NGHP-02) discovered gas hydrate at high saturation in sand reservoirs at several sites in the deepwater Bay of Bengal. To assess the potential response of those deposits to scientific depressurization experiments, comprehensive geologic models were constructed to enable numerical simulation for two sites. Both sites (NGHP-02-09 and NGHP-02-16) feature thick sequences of thinly-interbedded reservoir and non-reservoir facies at sub-seafloor depths less than 300m and sub-sea depths of 2400m or more. These settings pose significant challenges to current modeling capabilities. First, the thinly-interbedded reservoir architecture complicates the determination of basic reservoir parameters from both log and core data due to measurement resolution issues. Secondly, the fine scale variation in sediment properties imparts great contrasts in key parameters over very short distances, creating high gradients at multiple scales and varying orientations that necessitate careful design of high-definition simulation grids. Thirdly, the deposits include internal sources of water, as well as a range of complex boundary conditions, including variable permeability within the overlying mud-rich “seals,” that complicate reservoir depressurization. Lastly, because of the unique combination of great water depth and relatively shallow sub-seafloor depth: models designed to maximize the dissociation rate impose large pressure drawdowns on relatively low-strength sediments. This condition renders the proper evaluation and integration of the geomechanical response to hydrate dissociation critical. In this report, we review the history of gas hydrate reservoir simulation, discuss methods for creating geologic input models, and summarize the key findings and implications of the collaborative NGHP-02 numerical simulation effort. Together, the studies confirm the viability of the modeled accumulations for scientific testing and identify key challenges related to the selection of specific test sites and the design of test wells.

Collett, Tim↗

DOE OSTI2025

High-speed tunable generation of random number distributions using actuated perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions

Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (pMTJs) actuated by nanosecond pulses are emerging as promising devices for true random number generation (TRNG) due to their intrinsic stochastic behavior and high throughput. In this work, we demonstrate the tunability and quality of random number distributions generated by pMTJs operating at a frequency of 104 MHz. First, changing the pulse amplitude is used to systematically vary the probability bias. The variance of the resulting bitstreams closely matches the expected binomial distribution, demonstrating consistency with an underlying sequence of Bernoulli trials. Second, the quality of uniform distributions of 8-bit random numbers generated with a probability bias of 0.5 is considered. A reduced chi-square analysis of these data shows that only two XOR operations are sufficient to achieve this distribution with p-values greater than 0.05. Finally, we show that there is a correlation between long-term probability bias variations and pMTJ resistance. These findings suggest that variations in the characteristics of the pMTJ underlie the observed variation of probability bias. In conclusion, our results highlight the potential of stochastically actuated pMTJs for high-speed, tunable TRNG applications, showing the importance of the stability of pMTJ device characteristics in achieving reliable, long-term performance.

Magnetic tunnel junctions↗