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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 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Technical Assessment of Potential Climate Impact and Economic Viability of Biochar Technologies for Small-Scale Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest

The goal of this study is to evaluate the state of biochar technology and determine the feasibility of integrating small-scale biochar production in ways that benefit smaller, diversified producers. Because of the emergence of carbon markets, this innovative climate and agricultural solution may be financed externally, making biochar more accessible to the growers that could benefit. In this report, we review the current state of biochar technology (Section 2), methods for assessing the potential climate impacts derived from its implementation (Section 3), and the current state of carbon-offset mechanisms for biochar technology (Section 4). In Section 5, we apply this knowledge to several specific biochar technology scenarios involving combinations of different feedstocks, production methods, and economic incentives to arrive at estimates of climate-mitigation impacts and costs per carbon credit generated. We conclude with a summary in Section 6.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

I.3.4.1.1 Overview of Advanced Characterization Within the Powertrain Materials Program (Task 4A1) (Oak Ridge National Laboratory); (Task 4A2) (Argonne National Laboratory); and (Task 4A3) (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

This report describes the activities performed during the third year of Thrust 4A, “Advanced Characterization,” within the DOE-EERE VTO PMCP. The goal of the PMCP, which was launched in October 2018, has been to accelerate design, development, demonstration, and deployment of new, cost-effective advanced alloy solutions via a modern ICME approach. The properties of these new materials are targeted to enable improvements in engine efficiency, lightweighting, and durability enhancement over the full range of on-road vehicle classes (e.g., Classes 1-8), including range extenders for future electric HD freight vehicles.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Mixing Zone Dilution Study for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Sequim Campus

In summary, we conducted a plume modeling study to determine the dilutions at regulatory mixing zones for outfall 008 located at MRCL, Sequim. This included an analysis of diffuser and effluent characteristics together with ambient conditions around the outfall. Table 5, summarized the main results for dilution numbers estimated in our study, showing the minimum dilution for acute criteria is 29.8 that occurred for July conditions and the minimum dilution for chronic criteria is 1713.58 under December conditions.

Premathilake, Lakshitha↗
DOE OSTI2020

Large Trees Dominate Carbon Storage in Forests East of the Cascade Crest in the United States Pacific Northwest

Large-diameter trees store disproportionally massive amounts of carbon and are a major driver of carbon cycle dynamics in forests worldwide. In the temperate forests of the western United States, proposed changes to Forest Plans would significantly weaken protections for a large portion of trees greater than 53 cm (21 inches) in diameter (herein referred to as “large-diameter trees”) across 11.5 million acres (~4.7 million ha) of National Forest lands. This study is among the first to report how carbon storage in large trees and forest ecosystems would be affected by a proposed policy. We examined the proportion of large-diameter trees on National Forest lands east of the Cascade Mountains crest in Oregon and Washington, their contribution to overall aboveground carbon (AGC) storage, and the potential reduction in carbon stocks resulting from widespread harvest. We analyzed forest inventory data collected on 3,335 plots and found that large trees play a major role in the accumulated carbon stock of these forests. Tree AGC (kg) increases sharply with tree diameter at breast height (DBH; cm) among five dominant tree species. Large trees accounted for 2.0 to 3.7% of all stems (DBH ≥ 1” or 2.54 cm) among five tree species; but held 33 to 46% of the total AGC stored by each species. Pooled across the five dominant species, large trees accounted for 3% of the 636,520 trees occurring on the inventory plots but stored 42% of the total AGC. A recently proposed large-scale vegetation management project that involved widespread harvest of large trees, mostly grand fir, would have removed ~44% of the AGC stored in these large-diameter trees, and released a large amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Given the urgency of keeping additional carbon out of the atmosphere and continuing carbon accumulation from the atmosphere to protect the climate system, it would be prudent to continue protecting ecosystems with large trees for their carbon stores, and also for their co-benefits of habitat for biodiversity, resilience to drought and fire, and microclimate buffering under future climate extremes.

21-inch rule↗
DOE OSTI2022

Life Cycle Assessment of Bioethanol Production: A Case Study from Poplar Biomass Growth in the U.S. Pacific Northwest

Biomass appears to be one of the most prominent renewable resources for biofuels such as bioethanol, mainly due to its better environmental performance compared with fossil fuels. This study addresses a comprehensive environmental performance of bioethanol production, employing empirical data from hybrid poplar grown in the U.S. The study considers 1 MJ as a functional unit and employs a cradle-to-grave approach, which entails the feedstock and harvesting production of poplar, transport to a biorefinery, bioconversion of the biomass process, and fuel use. On average, bioconversion is the main contributor to environmental degradation in all the categories evaluated (77%). The second main contributor is either the feedstock and harvesting production of poplar (17%) or fuel use (6%), depending on the environmental category. Thus, focusing on only one category may induce a misinterpretation of the environmental performance of bioethanol production. Finally, environmental credits in the global warming potential (GWP) category were obtained from the carbon sequestered in the biomass during the growing period and from avoided fossil fuel emissions due to electricity production from a renewable source. This means that the net GWP of the life cycle of bioethanol from poplar biomass is slightly negative (–1.05 × 10 –3 kg CO 2 -eq·MJ –1 ).

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS1980

Use of satellite data in runoff forecasting in the heavily forested, cloud-covered Pacific Northwest

The author has identified the following significant results. Satellite-derived snow cover data improves forecasts of stream flow but not at a statistically significant amount and should not be used exclusively because of persistent cloud cover. Based upon reconstruction runs, satellite data can be used to augment snow-flight data in the Upper Snake, Boise, Dworshak, and Hungry Horse basins. Satellite data does not compare well with aerial snow-flight data in the Libby basin.

Dillard, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The Pacific Northwest story

The establishment of image analysis facilities for the operational utilization of LANDSAT data in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington is discussed. The hardware and software resources are described for each facility along with the range of services.

Johnson, K. A.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The pacific northwest remote sensing project

The history of a 3-year effort in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington to establish operational capabilities to analyze LANDSAT digital data and apply the results to natural resources management programs is related. Currently a number of agencies are conduct operational applications projects utilizing the data analysis facilities available and LANDSAT-derived data are being used by these agencies in their day-to-day operations. The image analysis systems and software used in each state are described and the participating state and local agencies are listed.

Hedrick, W. E.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Analysis of effective radiant temperatures in a Pacific Northwest forest using Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner data

Analysis of Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner data collected over H. J. Andrews experimental forest in western Oregon indicated that aspect and slope gradient had a greater effect on the thermal emission of younger reforested clearcuts than of older stands. Older forest stands (older than 25 years) with greater amounts of green biomass and closed canopies, had lower effective radiant temperatures than younger, less dense stands. Aspect and slope had little effect on the effective radiant temperature of these older stands. Canopy temperature recorded at approximately 1:30 pm local time July 29, 1983 were nearly equal to maximum daily air temperature recorded at eight reference stands. The investigation provided some insights into the utility of the thermal sensor for detecting surface temperature differences related to forest composition and green biomass amounts in mountain terrain.

Sader, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Tropical Cyclone Diurnal Cycle as Observed by TRMM

Using infrared satellite data, previous work has shown a consistent diurnal cycle in the pattern of cold cloud tops around mature tropical cyclones. In particular, an increase in the coverage by cold cloud tops often occurs in the inner core of the storm around the time of sunset and subsequently propagates outward to several hundred kilometers over the course of the following day. This consistent cycle may have important implications for structure and intensity changes of tropical cyclones and the forecasting of such changes. Because infrared satellite measurements are primarily sensitive to cloud top, the goal of this study is to use passive and active microwave measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR), respectively, to examine and better understand the tropical cyclone diurnal cycle throughout a larger depth of the storm's clouds. The National Hurricane Center's best track dataset was used to extract all PR and TMI pixels within 1000 km of each tropical cyclone that occurred in the Atlantic basin between 1998-2011. Then the data was composited according to radius (100-km bins from 0-1000 km) and local standard time (LST; 3-hr bins). Specifically, PR composites involved finding the percentage of pixels with reflectivity greater than or equal to 20 dBZ at various heights (i.e., 2-14 km in increments of 2 km) as a function of radius and time. The 37- and 85- GHz TMI channels are especially sensitive to scattering by precipitation-sized ice in the mid to upper portions of clouds. Hence, the percentage of 37- and 85-GHz polarization corrected temperatures less than various thresholds were calculated using data from all storms as a function of radius and time. For 37 GHz, thresholds of 260 K, 265 K, 270 K, and 275 K were used, and for 85 GHz, thresholds of 200-270 K in increments of 10 K were utilized. Note that convection forced by the interactions of a tropical cyclone with land (e.g., due to frictional convergence) may disrupt the natural convective cycle of a cyclone. Hence, only data pertaining to storms whose centers were greater than 300 km from land were included in the composites. Early results suggest the presence of a diurnal cycle in the PR composites of all Atlantic basin tropical cyclones from a height of 2-12 km from approximately 0-400 km radius, but the cycle is most apparent above 6 km. At a height of 8 km, there is a peak (minimum) in the percentage of PR pixels greater than or equal to 20 dBZ near 0 (21) LST in the inner core with some indication that this signal propagates outward with time. In contrast, the 37- and 85-GHz composites show little indication of a diurnal cycle at any radii, regardless of the threshold used. Ongoing work with this project will involve sub-setting the composites according to storm intensity to see if the diurnal cycle varies with storm strength. Moderate to strong vertical wind shear often leads to asymmetries in tropical cyclone convection and may disrupt the cyclone's natural diurnal cycle. Therefore, wind shear thresholds will be applied to the composites to determine if the diurnal cycle becomes more apparent in a low shear environment. Finally, other work to be completed will involve developing composites for other tropical cyclone basins, including the East Pacific, Northwest Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian Ocean.

tropical cyclones↗