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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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Hybridizing Machine Learning and Physically-based Earth System Models to Improve Prediction of Multivariate Extreme Events (AI Exploration of Wildland Fire Prediction)

Focal Areas: This project responds to two focal areas identified in the DOE Call for AI4ESP White Papers: 1) Predictive modeling through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, and 2) insights gleaned from complex data using explainable AI and big data analytics. Science Challenge: Large wildland fires (hereafter wildfires) appearing as high-impact compound climate extreme events are closely related to hydroclimate and water cycle extremes that modulate surface fuel supply and combustibility. These compound events have multivariate climatic features (e.g., temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, wind, lightning) and societal drivers (e.g., forest management, land use change, human caused ignitions). Meanwhile, they induce strong feedbacks to the coupled atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere by perturbing regional and global radiation budget as well as ecological, biogeochemical, and water cycles across multiple spatiotemporal scales. The nonlinear interactions between these natural and anthropogenic components of the Earth system are too complex to be completely and adequately represented in today’s Earth system models (ESMs). The inherent stochastic nature of fire activity at all scales further increases the difficulty of its prediction using ESMs that are usually developed from deterministic equations and parameterizations. Besides, concurrence of long-term (decadal to interdecadal) global climate change and fire regime shifts overlapping with short-term (intraseasonal to interannual) variations of regional fire weather and burning activity confound predictability of these compound extreme events. We propose to address the above scientific challenges by using machine learning (ML)-based data-driven modeling techniques to integrate observations and physically-based ESMs’ simulations in a computationally efficient hybrid prediction system. This prediction system is supposed to characterize the wildfire’s sensitivity to climate and exogenous drivers at high resolution (~ 0.25°) on subseasonal to seasonal (S2S) timescales providing improved predictability and explainability. We will use the system to help identify: (1) What are the computational elements of a hybrid system needed to predict compound climate extreme events such as global wildfires? (2) What are the key drivers (either natural or anthropogenic) that modulate short-term variations of multivariate fire weather and burning activity over different regions? How can one take advantage of those driver-response relationships to improve the predictability of large wildfires on S2S time scales? (3) What are the underlying physical mechanisms and sources of improved predictability? Which ML techniques are optimal in revealing and adapting these mechanisms?

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Land Model Testbed: Accelerating Development, Benchmarking and Analysis of Land Surface Models

A Land Model Testbed (LMT), designed to provide a computational framework for systematically assessing model fidelity and supporting rapid development of complex multiscale models, offers a general-purpose workflow for conducting large ensemble simulations of multiple land surface models, post-processing large volumes of model output, and evaluating model results. It leverages existing tools for launching model simulations and the International Land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) package for assessing model fidelity through comparison with best-available observational datasets. Increased complexity and proliferation of uncertain parameters in process representations in land surface models has driven the need for frequent and intensive testing and evaluating of models to quantify uncertainties and optimize parameters such that results are consistent with observations. The LMT described here meets these needs by providing tools to run thousands of ensemble simulations simultaneously and post-process their output files, by automating execution of an enhanced version of ILAMB with site-specific benchmarks and multivariate functional relationships, and by offering ensemble diagnostics and a customizable dashboard for displaying model performance metrics and associated graphics. We envision the LMT capabilities will serve as a foundational computational resource for a proposed user facility focused on terrestrial multiscale model--data integration.

Sreepathi, Sarat↗

Generating An Advanced Cross-section Library For HTGR Pebble Bed Depletion Calculations Using Reduced-Order Model Generation Techniques

For code development, Advanced Reactor Technologies - Gas Cooled Reactors Program (ART-GCR) rely on a collaboration with the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program, but the cross sections generation and the methodology definition is part of this program area goals. Based on previous studies in FY23, the size of microscopic cross section libraries increases rapidly with the number of tabulations, requiring significant amount of memory and drastically slowing down the Griffin calculations when evaluating cross sections via the multivariate linear interpolation approach. Rising to these challenges, this work investigates constructing Reduced-order Models (ROMs) for the multi-group microscopic cross sections to accelerate the cross section evaluation in Griffin. A database of multigroup cross sections is first collected considering all possible parameters that a designer could change for optimization. Down-selection of the ROM techniques afterward shows Deep Neural Network (DNN) as the best candidate when jointly consider memory efficiency, predictive accuracy, computational cost, scalability, flexibility and ease of implementation of the algorithms in comparison to the multidimensional interpolation. This work develops a specific interface that enables the cross section predictions using pre-trained DNN models into Griffin leveraging the existing ROM capabilities. DNNs have been trained for all isotopes for use in Griffin. Preliminary Griffin testing shows that DNNs exhibit exceptional predictive accuracy and the use of DNNs provides orders of magnitude improvement in memory efficiency compared to conventional interpolation techniques. With such ROM techniques, it holds great promise to further increase the fidelity of the Pebble Bed Reactor (PBR) simulation by increasing the number of tabulations/state variables during cross section evaluation, while maintaining the computational cost affordable in Griffin.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

STSR-INR: Spatiotemporal super-resolution for multivariate time-varying volumetric data via implicit neural representation

Implicit neural representation (INR) has surfaced as a promising direction for solving different scientific visualization tasks due to its continuous representation and flexible input and output settings. We present STSR-INR, an INR solution for generating simultaneous spatiotemporal super-resolution for multivariate time-varying volumetric data. Inheriting the benefits of the INR-based approach, STSR-INR supports unsupervised learning and permits data upscaling with arbitrary spatial and temporal scale factors. Unlike existing GAN- or INR-based super-resolution methods, STSR-INR focuses on tackling variables or ensembles and enabling joint training across datasets of various spatiotemporal resolutions. Here we achieve this capability via a variable embedding scheme that learns latent vectors for different variables. In conjunction with a modulated structure in the network design, we employ a variational auto-decoder to optimize the learnable latent vectors to enable latent-space interpolation. To combat the slow training of INR, we leverage a multi-head strategy to improve training and inference speed with significant speedup. We demonstrate the effectiveness of STSR-INR with multiple scalar field datasets and compare it with conventional tricubic+linear interpolation and state-of-the-art deep-learning-based solutions (STNet and CoordNet).

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Responsiveness of miscanthus and switchgrass yields to stand age and nitrogen fertilization: A meta‐regression analysis

Abstract Optimal management of the perennial bioenergy crops, miscanthus and switchgrass, requires an understanding of their responsiveness to nitrogen (N) fertilizer at different maturity stages across locations and growing conditions. Earlier studies that have examined the yield response of these crops to N and stand age using field experiments or meta‐analysis techniques provide mixed evidence. We extend earlier studies by applying a multi‐level mixed‐effects (MLME) meta‐regression model to conduct a more extensive multivariate regression of yield response of these crops to N and stand age, while controlling for climate and location conditions and unobserved factors related to study design. Our findings are based on 1403 and 2811 yield observations for miscanthus and switchgrass, respectively, from experiments conducted between 2002 and 2019 across the rainfed region in the United States. We find statistically significant evidence that an additional year of maturity increases miscanthus and switchgrass yields but at a decreasing rate; yields peak at the 7th and 6th year respectively, for the observed range of applied N rates and stands. We also find that an increase in N application increases yield by a statistically significant level, but at a declining rate; the magnitude of the yield response to N is, however, small and varies with the age of the crop. The impact of N is larger on older compared to younger and middle‐aged stands of miscanthus. In contrast, the impact of N on switchgrass is larger on middle‐aged compared to younger and older stands of switchgrass. We do not find a statistically significant effect of soil productivity on yield for either crop. This analysis provides a basis for developing N application recommendations and optimal rotation age for miscanthus and switchgrass and shows that these energy crops can grow just as productively on low productivity land as on high productivity land.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Discrete Graph Structure Learning for Forecasting Multiple Time Series

Time series forecasting is an extensively studied subject in statistics, economics, and computer science. Exploration of the correlation and causation among the variables in a multivariate time series shows promise in enhancing the performance of a time series model. When using deep neural networks as forecasting models, we hypothesize that exploiting the pairwise information among multiple (multivariate) time series also improves their forecast. If an explicit graph structure is known, graph neural networks (GNNs) have been demonstrated as powerful tools to exploit the structure. In this work, we propose learning the structure simultaneously with the GNN if the graph is unknown. We cast the problem as learning a probabilistic graph model through optimizing the mean performance over the graph distribution. The distribution is parameterized by a neural network so that discrete graphs can be sampled differentiably through reparameterization. Empirical evaluations show that our method is simpler, more efficient, and better performing than a recently proposed bilevel learning approach for graph structure learning, as well as a broad array of forecasting models, either deep or non-deep learning based, and graph or non-graph based.

Shang, Chao↗

Machine learning–assisted prediction of heat fluxes through thermally anisotropic building envelopes

Thermally anisotropic building envelope (TABE) is a novel active building envelope that can save energy use to maintain thermal comfort in buildings by redirecting heat and coolness from building envelopes to thermal loops. Finite element models (FEMs) can be used to compute the heat fluxes through TABEs, but the high computational cost of finite element simulations has prevented parametric studies and design optimizations. This paper proposes a domain knowledge–informed, finite element–based machine learning framework to reduce the computation cost for the energy management of buildings installed with TABE that uses a ground thermal loop. First, the training heat flux data set was generated by FEM simulations with different thermal loop schedules. Then, both shallow learning models (i.e., multivariate linear regression and eXtreme Gradient Boost, or XGBoost) and a deep learning model (i.e., deep neural network, or DNN) were trained to predict the heat fluxes. Domain knowledge was used for data preprocessing and feature selection. Finally, the suitability of the selected machine learning model was tested under different thermal loop schedules. Herein, the case study results showed that: (1) XGBoost can be as accurate as DNN (coefficient of determination equal to 0.81) with much less training time; (2) the annual energy cost savings for different thermal loop schedules obtained by the XGBoost-predicted and FEM-calculated heat fluxes are consistent, having a difference of only 4%; and (3) XGBoost can reduce the computation time for the annual energy analysis of the case study building with a given thermal loop schedule from around 12 h by using FEM to less than 1 min.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Visual Analytics of Multivariate Networks With Representation Learning and Composite Variable Construction

Multivariate networks are commonly found in real-world data-driven applications. Uncovering and understanding the relations of interest in multivariate networks is not a trivial task. This article presents a visual analytics workflow for studying multivariate networks to extract associations between different structural and semantic characteristics of the networks (e.g., what are the combinations of attributes largely relating to the density of a social network?). The workflow consists of a neural-network-based learning phase to classify the data based on the chosen input and output attributes, a dimensionality reduction and optimization phase to produce a simplified set of results for examination, and finally an interpreting phase conducted by the user through an interactive visualization interface. A key part of our design is a composite variable construction step that remodels nonlinear features obtained by neural networks into linear features that are intuitive to interpret. We demonstrate the capabilities of this workflow with multiple case studies on networks derived from social media usage and also evaluate the workflow with qualitative feedback from experts.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

The bright frontiers of microbial metabolic optogenetics

In recent years, light-responsive systems from the field of optogenetics have been applied to several areas of metabolic engineering with remarkable success. By taking advantage of light's high tunability, reversibility, and orthogonality to host endogenous processes, optogenetic systems have enabled unprecedented dynamical controls of microbial fermentations for chemical production, metabolic flux analysis, and population compositions in co-cultures. In this article, we share our opinions on the current state of this new field of metabolic optogenetics. Furthermore, we make the case that it will continue to impact metabolic engineering in increasingly new directions, with the potential to challenge existing paradigms for metabolic pathway and strain optimization as well as bioreactor operation.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

A combined machine learning and density functional theory study of binary Ti-Nb and Ti-Zr alloys: Stability and Young’s modulus

The multicomponent Ti alloys, specifically the -phase, have experienced a strong growth over the last decades, due to their outstanding properties of ultra-high strength and low Young’s modulus. These properties play a significant role in many aerospace and biomedical applications. Selection and optimization of multicomponent alloys is challenging due to the vast chemical and compositional space. Here we investigate the use of machine learning techniques informed by density functional calculations to guide the selection of Nb- and Zr-based Ti binary alloys. From the cubic structures obtained from high throughput calculations and literature, we identify several structures with Young’s moduli below 40 GPa. The multivariant decision tree methods provide efficient surrogate models to identify structure variables have high influences on the energetic stability and Young’s modulus. Furthermore, we implement a workflow of incorporating DFT provided results and machine learning method to explore the chemical and composition space of other binary and multicomponent alloys, to eventually accelerate the material design via taking advantages of identified key variables.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Active Learning-driven Quantitative Synthesis-Structure-Property Relations for Improving Performance and Revealing Active Sites of Nitrogen-Doped Carbon for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

While quantitative structure-properties relations (QSPRs) have been developed successfully in multiple fields, catalyst synthesis affects structure and in turn performance, making simple QSPRs inadequate. Furthermore, catalysts often have multiple active sites preventing one from obtaining insights into structure-property relations. Here, we develop a data-driven quantitative synthesis-structure-property relation (QS2PRs) methodology to elucidate correlations between catalyst synthesis conditions, structural properties as well as observed performance and to provide fundamental insights into active sites and a systematic way to optimize practical catalysts. Here, we demonstrate the approach to the synthesis of nitrogen-doped catalysts (NDC) made via pyrolysis for the performance of the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), quantified by the onset potential and the current density. We determine crystallinity, nitrogen species type and fraction, surface area, and pore structure of the NDC’s using XRD, XPS, and BET characterization. We demonstrated that an active learning-based optimization combined with various elementary machine learning tools (regression, principal component analysis, partial least squares) can efficiently identify optimum pyrolysis conditions to tune structural characteristics and performance with concomitant savings in materials and experimental time. Unlike previous reports on the importance of pyridinic or graphitic nitrogen, we discover that the electrochemical performance is not driven by a single catalyst property; rather, it arises from a multivariate influence of nitrogen dopants, pore structure and disorder in the NDC materials. Identification of active sites can help mechanistic understanding and further catalyst improvement.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Population genomics and history of speciation reveal fishery management gaps in two related redfish species ( Sebastes mentella and Sebastes fasciatus )

Abstract Understanding the processes shaping population structure and reproductive isolation of marine organisms can improve their management and conservation. Using genomic markers combined with estimation of individual ancestries, assignment tests, spatial ecology, and demographic modeling, we (i) characterized the contemporary population structure, (ii) assessed the influence of space, fishing depth, and sampling years on contemporary distribution, and (iii) reconstructed the speciation history of two cryptic redfish species, Sebastes mentella and S. fasciatus . We genotyped 860 individuals in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean using 24,603 filtered single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Our results confirmed the clear genetic distinctiveness of the two species and identified three ecotypes within S. mentella and five populations in S. fasciatus . Multivariate analyses highlighted the influence of spatial distribution and depth on the overall genomic variation, while demographic modeling revealed that secondary contact models best explained inter‐ and intragenomic divergence. These species, ecotypes, and populations can be considered as a rare and wide continuum of genomic divergence in the marine environment. This acquired knowledge pertaining to the evolutionary processes driving population divergence and reproductive isolation will help optimizing the assessment of demographic units and possibly to refine fishery management units.

Benestan, Laura M.↗

Machine-Learning Assisted Identification of Battery Life Models

Predictive battery life models are commonly utilized to extrapolate degradation trends observed during accelerated aging tests for simulation of degradation in real-world applications. Thus, fitting accelerated aging data as accurately as possible and with low uncertainty is crucial for making believable projections of battery lifetime, but it is challenging to identify algebraic expressions that accurately fit multivariate degradation trends. A review of models published in literature reveal some common expressions for fitting calendar aging data, which is only dependent on temperature and state-of-charge, but no consistency across many models for fitting cycle aging data, indicating the need for a statistically rigorous data driven approach for developing empirical models. This talk will describe a machine-learning assisted method for identification of predictive battery life models utilizing bilevel optimization and symbolic regression. Bilevel optimization with cross-validation is used to statistically determine cell- and stress-dependent model parameters, while symbolic regression identifies both linear and multiplicative candidate expressions to predict stress-dependent degradation rates by selecting low-order subsets of features from a generated feature library. Because model expressions are identified empirically, it is crucial to ensure resulting models behave according to physical expectations, so the stability of models for interpolation or extrapolation is interrogated qualitatively through simulation and quantitatively through cross-validation and uncertainty quantification via bootstrap resampling. This model identification approach substantially improves upon models identified purely using expert judgement in terms of both accuracy and uncertainty. Model simulation and validation is then conducted by deriving a state-equation form of the predictive model, enabling simulation of battery aging under dynamic stresses. This enables validation of the predictive battery model on lab-based tests with varying conditions or on drive-cycle or application-cycle testing protocols. Parameter uncertainty can be carried forward into model simulation, giving lifetime estimates and confidence windows for cell- or system-level lifetime. The financial impact of battery model uncertainty can be estimated by incorporating uncertainty into a technoeconomic model.

battery↗

Monitoring the Caustic Dissolution of Aluminum Alloy in a Radiochemical Hot Cell Using Raman Spectroscopy

Chemical processing of highly radioactive materials commonly takes place in heavily shielded hot cells. The remote, real-time monitoring of chemical processing streams via optical spectroscopic techniques in hot cells may be particularly useful. Here in this paper, we describe the implementation of Raman spectroscopy and chemometric analysis to monitor the dissolution of aluminum-clad targets containing irradiated aluminum–neptunium oxide cermet pellets in caustic solutions in a hot cell environment. Partial least squares regression analysis was used to generate calibration models to quantify the concentration of dissolved aluminum, nitrate, and hydroxide in solutions within the radiochemical hot cell. This work explored a systematic approach to optimize a matrix of calibration standards using a D-optimal experimental design. The Design of Experiments-based regression model, in comparison to more traditional analytical approaches, was found to be the more practical method for building calibration models, with fewer samples, to obtain informative analytical data from Raman spectra.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Absorptive Weak Plume Detection on Gaussian and Non-Gaussian Background Clutter

For additive signals on Gaussian clutter, the optimal detector is a linear matched filter that is adapted to the known signal and the covariance of the background. This adaptive matched filter is widely used for gas-phase plume detection, even though the effect of the plume on the background is not strictly additive. Here, a derivation of the matched filter for a strictly absorptive plume produces, in the weak plume limit, a quadratic filter. This quadratic matched filter is extended in two ways: an elliptically-contoured multivariate t distribution is used to generalize the Gaussian background clutter, and a generalized likelihood ratio test detector is derived to extend applicability to stronger plumes. In addition to detectors whose purpose is to identify presence versus absence of a plume, expressions are also derived for estimating plume strength. The performance of these various detectors is evaluated by implanting simulated plume into background images that are either real hyperspectral images or simulated images based on different (Gaussian, multivariate t, and lognormal) clutter distributions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Simulation of Mechanical Fractionation of Chopped Whole-Plant Corn (WPC) Using Discrete Element Method (DEM)

Fractionating whole-plant corn (WPC) in a single-pass harvesting system requires studies on the WPC-to-equipment interaction for improved property control, as well as mechanical and air-driven separation processes compared to the traditional multi-pass grain and stover harvesting system. The discrete element method (DEM) technique has the potential to simulate WPC mechanical fractionation and support simulation-based design of WPC separation processes. In this study, methods to develop DEM particle models of WPC (kernel, cob, stalk, and husk) and their material properties for simulating mass fractionation using the ASABE standard mechanical shaker were proposed. Measurement was done on the axial dimensions (major, intermediate, and minor) and mass of each WPC type (mean sample size is 56), sampled from single-pass harvesting. Applying gaussian multivariate regression and bootstrapping re-sampling techniques, a DEM particle approximate to each WPC was developed. Sensitivity analysis of the DEM Young‘s modulus, Poisson‘s ratio, and interaction parameters of coefficient of restitution, coefficient of rolling friction, and coefficient of static friction on mass fraction was performed after 156 ASABE sieve-shaking DEM simulation runs, generated using Latin Hypercube Design (LHD) design of experiment (DOE) from 19 DEM material parameters. DEM simulation using Hertz-Mindlin with flexible bond contact laws and DOE optimized material properties successfully reproduced the mass fractions retained in ASABE sieves at 9.8% mean relative error and a coefficient of determination of R2 = 0.87. Here, the DEM methodology developed for mechanical WPC mass fractionation could be deployed to perform virtual design of feedstock handling equipment and performance analysis of mechanical fraction systems.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

A New Simple-to-Configure Self-Perturbing Multivariable Extremum-Seeking Controller

This paper presents a new stochastic relay-based extremum-seeking controller (ESC) for multi-input-single-output (MISO) systems. The algorithm was developed with the goal of simplifying configuration to enable easier deployment to real-world problems. A solution is developed first for a static map and then adapted for a general class of dynamic systems. The number of configurable parameters is one per input channel for the static case and only one additional parameter is needed for the dynamic version. The problem of gradient identifiability is solved via the use of stochastic relay gains and a simple stability proof for the static case is presented. Simulation tests demonstrate the performance of the strategy for optimizing both static and dynamic systems.

Salsbury, Timothy [BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)]↗

Fast and Non-Destructive Determination of Water Content in Ionic Liquids at Varying Temperatures by Raman Spectroscopy and Multivariate Regression Analysis

Imidazolium acetate ionic liquids (ILs) have been utilized as promising solvents in many applications that involve varying water content and temperature. These experimental variables affect the anion-cation intermolecular interactions, which in turn influence the performance of the ILs in these applications. Here, this paper shows Raman spectroscopy can be used as an operando method to measure water content in IL solvents when simultaneous temperature changes may occur. The Raman spectra of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ILs (alkyl chain length n = 2, 4, 6, 8) with varying water content (from 0.028 to 0.899 water mole fraction) and temperature (from 78.1 K to 423.1 K) were measured. Increasing the water content or decreasing the temperature of the tested ILs weakens the anion-cation intermolecular interactions. The water content of these ILs can be quantified even in conditions when the temperature is changing using Raman spectroscopy combined with multivariate regression analysis, including principal component regression (PCR), partial-least-squares regression (PLSR), and artificial neural networks (ANNs). The ANN model combined with partial-least-squares (PLS) achieves the highest prediction accuracy of water content in ILs at varying temperatures (RMSECV = 0.017, R 2 CV = 99.1%, RMSEP = 0.019, R 2 P = 98.8%, RPD = 8.93). Raman spectroscopy provides a potential fast non-destructive operando method to monitor the water content of ILs even in applications when the temperature may be simultaneously altered; this information can lead to the optimized use of these ILs in many applications.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗