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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Label-free functional analysis of root-associated microbes with dynamic quantitative oblique back-illumination microscopy

The increasing global demand for food, coupled with concerns about the environmental impact of synthetic fertilizers, underscores the urgency of developing sustainable agricultural practices. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, known as diazotrophs, offer a potential solution by converting atmospheric nitrogen into bioavailable forms, reducing the reliance on synthetic fertilizers. However, a deeper understanding of their interactions with plants and other microbes is needed. In this study, we introduce a recently developed label-free 3D quantitative phase imaging technology called dynamic quantitative oblique back-illumination microscopy (DqOBM) to assess the functional dynamic activity of diazotrophs in vitro and in situ. Our experiments involved three different diazotrophs (Sinorhizobium meliloti, Azotobacter vinelandii, and Rahnella aquatilis) cultured on media with amendments of carbon and nitrogen sources. Over 5 days, we observed increased dynamics in nutrient-amended media. These results suggest that the observed bacterial dynamics correlate with their metabolic activity. Furthermore, we applied qOBM to visualize microbial dynamics within the root cap and elongation zone of Arabidopsis thaliana primary roots. This allowed us to identify distinct areas of microbial infiltration in plant roots without the need for fluorescent markers. Our findings demonstrate that DqOBM can effectively characterize microbial dynamics and provide insights into plant-microbe interactions in situ, offering a valuable tool for advancing our understanding of sustainable agriculture.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Towards resolving protein structures at the atomic scale using atom probe tomography

In the field of Structural Biology, Atom Probe Tomography (APT) is in the nascent stages of development wherein coarse-grained visuals of proteins have been captured. The characterization of organic samples or biomolecules through the technique is currently limited to the detection of a few dominant signatures. The problem of indecipherable characterization can inherently be traced back to multiple forms of technique-specific responses to organic samples and consequent triggers leading to organic-sample and sample-medium interactions. While it is possible for captured manifestations of protein reconstructions to seemingly appear intact from a basic visual purview, the parameter-protein associative responses throughout the structure as a direct consequence of the inherent workings of the technique (until harmonized with organic sample complexity and behavior) and field evaporation-based factors make non-aberrative atomic associations infeasible. The work focused on identifying and theorizing the (above stated and other) fundamental mechanisms that stronghold the study of intricate atomic to higher order associations in proteins through APT. Attempts at structure elucidation of the cryogenic sample under study, through indirect associations (and methods) based on other imaging techniques, further revealed the distinct and highly distortive nature at the atomic scale deterring structural tunability and thus characterization of APT based cryogenic samples under analysis. As a direct counter to the atomic scale characterization problem, by taking the experiment-specific uncertainties, and probable APT-centric organic sample-based variabilities into account, a basic result is extracted and presented. Through mass-spectrometric and computational analysis, specific individual amino acids (Sulfur-containing protein-bound amino acids) in proteins and aspects of protein structure (probable backbone fragments, partial sequence - partial backbone portions) have been identified and characterized. Under analysis considerations, a few of the simplest known and easily inferable segments that favor structural deteriorations in the reconstructions are stated. Additionally, to overcome technique-specific deterrents to the characterization of biomolecules in cryogenic sample medium, the development of a protein-labeling strategy tailored to APT is suggested.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

CRCNS21 Computational Models of Multisensory Integration by Upper Limb in Humanoids and Amputees

This international collaborative research project between Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) investigated how the human brain processes and integrates multiple types of sensory information, such as touch and force, with the goal of improving prosthetic limbs for amputees and advancing sensory capabilities in humanoid robots. The research advanced our understanding of how the brain responds to sensory feedback in upper-limb amputees. Through experiments in which amputees received electrical stimulation while performing phantom hand movements, we demonstrated that sensory feedback activates the cortical sensorimotor and multisensory regions, and that these regions communicate dynamically during stimulation. Experiments with intact-limb participants explored the integration of visual, haptic, and force feedback, as well as in virtual reality motor training, further showing how the brain processes multimodal sensory information. In addition, this research inspired work on examining the reliability of where amputees perceive sensations over time, which contributed to a successful doctoral fellowship for continued investigation. Our collaborators at TUM improved multimodal sensor technology combining tactile and thermal feedback for humanoid robots, demonstrating the feasibility of integrating multiple sensor types into a unified system for detecting and responding to environmental stimuli. The experimental methods and analysis techniques developed across both teams, including functional network analysis and multimodal sensor integration, provide a foundation for future research in prosthetics and robotics. This research benefits the public by generating knowledge about how amputees process restored sensory information. Advances in humanoid sensing contribute to safer human-robot interaction. The project also fostered international collaboration and cross-disciplinary training: one TUM doctoral student spent a summer at JHU working on multimodal sensor integration, while two JHU students traveled to TUM to host workshops on neuromorphic sensory encoding and sensory integration.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2007

Determining Desirable Cursor Control Device Characteristics for NASA Exploration Missions

The Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) that will travel to the moon and Mars, and all future Exploration vehicles and habitats will be highly computerized, necessitating an accurate method of interaction with the computers. The design of a cursor control device will have to take into consideration g-forces, vibration, gloved operations, and the specific types of tasks to be performed. The study described here is being undertaken to begin identifying characteristics of cursor control devices that will work well for the unique Exploration mission environments. The objective of the study is not to identify a particular device, but to begin identifying design characteristics that are usable and desirable for space missions. Most cursor control devices have strengths and weaknesses; they are more appropriate for some tasks and less suitable for others. The purpose of this study is to collect some initial usability data on a large number of commercially available and proprietary cursor control devices. A software test battery was developed for this purpose. Once data has been collected using these low-level, basic point/click/drag tasks, higher fidelity, scenario-driven evaluations will be conducted with a reduced set of devices. The standard tasks used for testing cursor control devices are based on a model of human movement known as Fitts law. Fitts law predicts that the time to acquire a target is logarithmically related to the distance over the target size. To gather data for analysis with this law, fundamental, low-level tasks are used such as dragging or pointing at various targets of different sizes from various distances. The first four core tasks for the study were based on the ISO 9241-9:(2000) document from the International Organization for Standardization that contains the requirements for non-keyboard input devices. These include two pointing tasks, one dragging and one tracking task. The fifth task from ISO 9241-9, the circular tracking task was not used because it is a movement that is not applicable to most of the applications used on aviation displays. Additionally, we opted to add a multi-size and multi-distance pointing task, and two ecologically more valid tasks which included text selection, and interaction with drop down menus, sliders, and checkboxes. The Visual Basic test battery tracks the task and trial numbers, measures the pointing, tracking or dragging time, as well as the number and types of errors. The testing session includes a practice set for each input device, then the randomized 7 tasks, and finally a questionnaire about the device. This is repeated for all the devices tested within a session. The experiment is a within-subjects design, with participants returning for multiple sessions to test additional devices. The input devices will be compared based on objective performance data from the tasks, as well as subjective feedback and ratings on the questionnaire.

Aniko Sandor↗
NASA NTRS2012

SE-FIT

The mathematical theory of capillary surfaces has developed steadily over the centuries, but it was not until the last few decades that new technologies have put a more urgent demand on a substantially more qualitative and quantitative understanding of phenomena relating to capillarity in general. So far, the new theory development successfully predicts the behavior of capillary surfaces for special cases. However, an efficient quantitative mathematical prediction of capillary phenomena related to the shape and stability of geometrically complex equilibrium capillary surfaces remains a significant challenge. As one of many numerical tools, the open-source Surface Evolver (SE) algorithm has played an important role over the last two decades. The current effort was undertaken to provide a front-end to enhance the accessibility of SE for the purposes of design and analysis. Like SE, the new code is open-source and will remain under development for the foreseeable future. The ultimate goal of the current Surface Evolver Fluid Interface Tool (SEFIT) development is to build a fully integrated front-end with a set of graphical user interface (GUI) elements. Such a front-end enables the access to functionalities that are developed along with the GUIs to deal with pre-processing, convergence computation operation, and post-processing. In other words, SE-FIT is not just a GUI front-end, but an integrated environment that can perform sophisticated computational tasks, e.g. importing industry standard file formats and employing parameter sweep functions, which are both lacking in SE, and require minimal interaction by the user. These functions are created using a mixture of Visual Basic and the SE script language. These form the foundation for a high-performance front-end that substantially simplifies use without sacrificing the proven capabilities of SE. The real power of SE-FIT lies in its automated pre-processing, pre-defined geometries, convergence computation operation, computational diagnostic tools, and crash-handling capabilities to sustain extensive computations. SE-FIT performance is enabled by its so-called file-layer mechanism. During the early stages of SE-FIT development, it became necessary to modify the original SE code to enable capabilities required for an enhanced and synchronized communication. To this end, a file-layer was created that serves as a command buffer to ensure a continuous and sequential execution of commands sent from the front-end to SE. It also establishes a proper means for handling crashes. The file layer logs input commands and SE output; it also supports user interruption requests, back and forward operation (i.e. undo and redo), and others. It especially enables the batch mode computation of a series of equilibrium surfaces and the searching of critical parameter values in studying the stability of capillary surfaces. In this way, the modified SE significantly extends the capabilities of the original SE.

Chen, Yongkang↗
NASA NTRS1992

On the acquisition and representation of procedural knowledge

Historically knowledge acquisition has proven to be one of the greatest barriers to the development of intelligent systems. Current practice generally requires lengthy interactions between the expert whose knowledge is to be captured and the knowledge engineer whose responsibility is to acquire and represent knowledge in a useful form. Although much research has been devoted to the development of methodologies and computer software to aid in the capture and representation of some of some types of knowledge, little attention has been devoted to procedural knowledge. NASA personnel frequently perform tasks that are primarily procedural in nature. Previous work is reviewed in the field of knowledge acquisition and then focus on knowledge acquisition for procedural tasks with special attention devoted to the Navy's VISTA tool. The design and development is described of a system for the acquisition and representation of procedural knowledge-TARGET (Task Analysis and Rule Generation Tool). TARGET is intended as a tool that permits experts to visually describe procedural tasks and as a common medium for knowledge refinement by the expert and knowledge engineer. The system is designed to represent the acquired knowledge in the form of production rules. Systems such as TARGET have the potential to profoundly reduce the time, difficulties, and costs of developing knowledge-based systems for the performance of procedural tasks.

Saito, T.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Automating CPM-GOMS

CPM-GOMS is a modeling method that combines the task decomposition of a GOMS analysis with a model of human resource usage at the level of cognitive, perceptual, and motor operations. CPM-GOMS models have made accurate predictions about skilled user behavior in routine tasks, but developing such models is tedious and error-prone. We describe a process for automatically generating CPM-GOMS models from a hierarchical task decomposition expressed in a cognitive modeling tool called Apex. Resource scheduling in Apex automates the difficult task of interleaving the cognitive, perceptual, and motor resources underlying common task operators (e.g. mouse move-and-click). Apex's UI automatically generates PERT charts, which allow modelers to visualize a model's complex parallel behavior. Because interleaving and visualization is now automated, it is feasible to construct arbitrarily long sequences of behavior. To demonstrate the process, we present a model of automated teller interactions in Apex and discuss implications for user modeling. available to model human users, the Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection (GOMS) method [6, 21] has been the most widely used, providing accurate, often zero-parameter, predictions of the routine performance of skilled users in a wide range of procedural tasks [6, 13, 15, 27, 28]. GOMS is meant to model routine behavior. The user is assumed to have methods that apply sequences of operators and to achieve a goal. Selection rules are applied when there is more than one method to achieve a goal. Many routine tasks lend themselves well to such decomposition. Decomposition produces a representation of the task as a set of nested goal states that include an initial state and a final state. The iterative decomposition into goals and nested subgoals can terminate in primitives of any desired granularity, the choice of level of detail dependent on the predictions required. Although GOMS has proven useful in HCI, tools to support the construction of GOMS models have not yet come into general use.

GOMS↗
NASA NTRS2018

Studying Diurnal Variations of Aerosols with NASA MERRA-2 Reanalysis Data

Aerosols play an important role in atmospheric dynamics, climate variations, and Earth's energy cycle by altering the radiation balance in the atmosphere through interaction with clouds, providing fertilizer for forests and canopy, and as a supply of iron to the ocean over long time periods. Studies suggest that much of the feedback between dust aerosols and dynamics is associated with diurnal and synoptic scale variability. However, the lack of sub-daily resolution of aerosols from satellite observations makes it difficult to study the diurnal characteristics, especially over tropical and subtropical regions. Investigation of this topic utilizes over 37 years of simulated global aerosol products from NASA atmospheric reanalysis, in the second Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2) data set, available from NASA Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). MERRA-2 covers the period 1980-present, and is continuing as an ongoing climate analysis. Aerosol assimilation is included throughout the period, using data from MODIS, MISR, AERONET, and AVHRR (in the pre-EOS period). The aerosols are assimilated using the MERRA-2 aerosol model, which interacts directly with radiation parameterization, and is radiatively coupled with atmospheric model dynamics in the Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5 (GEOS-5). Hourly, monthly, and monthly diurnal data are available at spatial resolution of 0.5o x 0.625o (latitude x longitude). By using MERRA-2 hourly and monthly diurnal products, different aerosol diurnal variabilities are observed over North America, Africa, Asia, and Australia, that may be due to different meteorological conditions and aerosol sources. The presentation will also provide an overview of MERRA-2 data services at GES DISC, such as how to find and download data, and how to quickly visualize and analyze data online with Giovanni.

aerosol↗
DOE OSTI2023

Novel viruses of the family Partitiviridae discovered in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

It has been 49 years since the last discovery of a new virus family in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae . A large-scale screen to determine the diversity of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses in S . cerevisiae has identified multiple novel viruses from the family Partitiviridae that have been previously shown to infect plants, fungi, protozoans, and insects. Most S . cerevisiae partitiviruses (ScPVs) are associated with strains of yeasts isolated from coffee and cacao beans. The presence of partitiviruses was confirmed by sequencing the viral dsRNAs and purifying and visualizing isometric, non-enveloped viral particles. ScPVs have a typical bipartite genome encoding an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) and a coat protein (CP). Phylogenetic analysis of ScPVs identified three species of ScPV, which are most closely related to viruses of the genus Cryspovirus from the mammalian pathogenic protozoan Cryptosporidium parvum . Molecular modeling of the ScPV RdRP revealed a conserved tertiary structure and catalytic site organization when compared to the RdRPs of the Picornaviridae . The ScPV CP is the smallest so far identified in the Partitiviridae and has structural homology with the CP of other partitiviruses but likely lacks a protrusion domain that is a conspicuous feature of other partitivirus particles. ScPVs were stably maintained during laboratory growth and were successfully transferred to haploid progeny after sporulation, which provides future opportunities to study partitivirus-host interactions using the powerful genetic tools available for the model organism S . cerevisiae .

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Direct evidence from STXM analysis of enhanced oxygen storage capacity in ceria through the addition of Cu and Mg: Correlation of HT-WGS reaction performance

Here, scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) analysis was utilized to directly present visual evidence of changes in oxygen storage capacity (OSC) when small amounts of an additive were incorporated into CeO2. Specifically, the chemical map measured by STXM analysis differentiated between Cu-rich and Ce-rich areas to derive the proportion of Ce3+. Additionally, we found that the dispersion of Cu significantly influenced the formation of OSC. The findings were applied to the high-temperature water–gas shift reaction for producing high-purity hydrogen from waste-derived syngas, establishing a correlation with catalyst performance. Consequently, the CCM75 (Ce/Mg = 75/25) catalyst demonstrated the highest Cu dispersion and OSC values (6.9 %, 800.3 μmolO/gcat), and it also showed the highest CO conversion (79 % at 450 °C) and stability (−7.7 % at 450 °C after 50 h), attributed to the significant presence of active Cu. This study confirms previously reported interactions between Cu and CeO2 and uncovers the significant roles of Cu and Mg in this catalysis system, providing new understanding of the mechanisms that facilitate OSC improvement.

Lee, Ru-Ri↗
NASA NTRS1974

Image data processing of earth resources management

The Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1) was launched on July 23, 1972. Since that date, the vehicle has been acquiring and transmitting to earth a vast amount of information relating to the earth's resources. Scientific investigators throughout the world have been analyzing photographic products produced from this data with significant results. Recently, there has been a major shift of emphasis from the visual analysis of photo products to the use of sophisticated digital information extraction techniques. Specialized equipment, such as the GE IMAGE 100 System, has been developed that operates directly from Computer Compatible Tapes, (CCT’s), which contain preprocessed digital data acquired from the ERTS spacecraft. Analysis of CCT data avoids the losses in image resolution and quality which are inherent to all photo processing techniques, thereby greatly increasing the utility of ERTS data. Future ground processing systems will turn out fully corrected (radiometric and geometric) digital tapes which will further increase the utility of ERTS data. This paper is presented in two parts: the first part deals with the subject of present and future generations of image processing and information extraction systems under development at the General Electric Company; the second part describes in more detail the design and operation of GE1s interactive multispectral information extraction systems, IMAGE 100, and discusses results of analyses of ERTS data over a number of U.S. sites.

A W DeSio↗
NASA NTRS2021

Oklahoma Health and Air Quality: Mapping Air Quality Using NASA Earth Observations to Investigate Recent Increases in Ozone Concentrations

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is formed by anthropogenic pollutants interacting with sunlight and is considered harmful to human health in high concentrations. In the summer of 2018, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) measured unexpected spikes in O3 in Seiling, Oklahoma, with concentrations exceeding those measured in bustling Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The DEQ tracks air quality using ground monitors and does not utilize Earth observation data in its monitoring or analysis. This project used remotely sensed data to investigate these2018 air quality anomalies, identifying possible causes. We analyzed atmospheric data from Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Sentinel-5P Tropospheric Ozone Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) in conjunction with ground-based measurements of tropospheric ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (HCHO) and aerosol optical depth (AOD). We compared Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model simulations and Earth observation visualizations to pinpoint ozone spike causes. We also generated models to identify contributing factors to variations in ground ozone concentrations in our study area. The results point to a variety of ozone spike causes, primarily from outside of the state, and support the placement of additionalNO2, O3, and CO monitors to the southeast of Seiling. These analyses can help guide the placement of future monitors in the ground monitoring network and inform air quality regulations in Oklahoma.

Carolina Rosales↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Suited User Incident Tracking System

The Suited User Incident Tracking System (SUITS) tracks all suited exposures during terrestrial analog simulations and trainings with the objective of recording any related issues, pains, or discomforts that arise from the exposure. This information is vital for informing where, how, and why issues are occurring during suited extravehicular activity (EVA) training and operations. The outputs of SUITS will be the foundation for the newly formed Suited Anomaly Assessment Team (SAAT) which consists of a broad range of EVA stakeholders including suit engineers, biomechanists, ergonomists, flight surgeons, athletic trainers, and physiologists. This team has been formed to provide robust, wholistic solutions to suit anomalies and issues identified by SUITS. SUITS data collected from September 2017 to June 2022 was analyzed for issue frequency and severity for each body location and plotted to visualize where issues were occurring. Clustering techniques using a k-modes approach were also applied to the data set to generate profiles of populations that experienced issues in the suit and populations that did not. A key finding identified by the SUITs analysis was that suited issues translate from predominantly upper body areas in microgravity space suits and associated analog simulations to lower body areas in planetary space suits and analog simulations. In addition, specific injury frequency and severity metrics were identified that will help drive requirements for commercially provided space suits. The SAAT will continue to meet on a biannual basis to identify trends in issues and injuries from the SUITS database to evaluate and develop solution strategies where needed for the purposes of suit design, EVA operations optimization, injury characterization and mitigation, and personalized improvements for human-suit interactions.

K. Dolick↗
DOE OSTI2026

Using Visual Systems Mapping to Improve Transparency and Comparability of Life Cycle Assessment Baseline Scenarios

Visual systems mapping is a systems engineering approach used to represent complex processes and interactions. This study evaluates its application for documenting assumptions in life cycle assessment (LCA) baseline scenarios. In LCA, the baseline or reference case represents the business as usual system against which changes in impacts (e.g., emissions) are assessed. These baseline assumptions are particularly influential in biomass LCAs, yet they often vary across studies due to regional context, system boundaries, and simplifying assumptions that are not consistently or transparently documented. As a result, key feedbacks, omitted processes, and boundary choices may remain unclear, limiting comparability across studies and weakening their usefulness for decision-making. This study examines whether visual systems mapping can improve the transparency and comparability of biomass LCA baseline scenarios. A case study of five published biomass-related LCAs were reviewed, and their baseline scenarios were translated into visual system maps to identify included processes, omitted components, and underlying assumptions. The analysis demonstrates that visual systems mapping can make baseline assumptions more explicit, highlight excluded dynamics, and improve documentation of system boundaries. Based on these findings, the study recommends the use of visual systems mapping alongside open data repositories and reproducible workflows to support greater transparency, reproducibility, and comparability in LCAs. These improvements can strengthen the role of LCAs in informing decisions related to sustainable biomass systems.

Davis, Maggie [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000181319328)↗
NASA NTRS2022

A Modular Framework for Integrating and Visualizing Telemetry for Mars 2020 Rover Mechanism Operations

The analysis of mechanism telemetry requires a wide variety of tools to quickly and effectively assess spacecraft state, capture long-term trends in system performance, and identify and track anomalous events. Such analysis often requires spacecraft telemetry to first be transformed into derived fields and aggregated statistics before operators can begin their analysis. In past missions, aspects of this process have been automated, but operators were expected to use their own tools and procedures to understand and visualize the data, which led to redundant and inconsistent tools and processes. The Mech Data Tools Python library (MDT) was developed to provide a flexible, unified tool set for operators to extract and analyze mechanism telemetry over the life of the Mars 2020 surface mission. MDT consists of a set of configurable components that implement standard interfaces for ingesting input and producing output. Components can be chained together to form a data processing pipeline. Data are ingested from several sources within the greater Mars 2020 cloud infrastructure and stored in pandas DataFrames, which allows users to leverage the data manipulation capabilities present within the widely-used pandas library. Visualization capabilities are provided through the Plotly library, which generates interactive plots for users to interpret. Following the beginning of Mars 2020 surface operations, usage of MDT has spread to all mechanism-focused subsystems and has demonstrated great utility in analyzing early surface activities. This paper describes MDT’s evolution from heritage mechanism telemetry tools, the critical architecture decisions and challenges faced over MDT’s two years of development, and current applications of MDT in support of mechanism operations.

Wolsieffer, Ben↗
NASA NTRS1999

Time-on-task decrements in "steer clear" performance of patients with sleep apnea and narcolepsy

Loss of attention with time-on-task reflects the increasing instability of the waking state during performance in experimentally induced sleepiness. To determine whether patients with disorders of excessive sleepiness also displayed time-on-task decrements indicative of wake state instability, visual sustained attention performance on "Steer Clear," a computerized simple RT driving simulation task, was compared among 31 patients with untreated sleep apnea, 16 patients with narcolepsy, and 14 healthy control subjects. Vigilance decrement functions were generated by analyzing the number of collisions in each of six four-minute periods of Steer Clear task performance in a mixed-model analysis of variance and linear regression equations. As expected, patients had more Steer Clear collisions than control subjects (p=0.006). However, the inter-subject variability in errors among the narcoleptic patients was four-fold that of the apnea patients, and 100-fold that of the controls volunteers; the variance in errors among untreated apnea patients was 27-times that of controls. The results of transformed collision data revealed main effects for group (p=0.006), time-on-task (p=0.001), and a significant interaction (p=0.022). Control subjects showed no clear evidence of increasing collision errors with time-on-task (adjusted R2=0.22), while apnea patients showed a trend toward vigilance decrement (adjusted R2=0.42, p=0.097), and narcolepsy patients evidenced a robust linear vigilance decrement (adjusted R2=0.87, p=0.004). The association of disorders of excessive somnolence with escalating time-on-task decrements makes it imperative that when assessment of neurobehavioral performance is conducted in patients, it involves task durations and analyses that will evaluate the underlying vulnerability of potentially sleepy patients to decrements over time in tasks that require sustained attention and timely responses, both of which are key components in safe driving performance.

NASA Discipline Space Human Factors↗
DOE OSTI2021

Scientific and stakeholder evidence-based assessment: Ecosystem response to floating solar photovoltaics and implications for sustainability

Floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) installations are increasing globally. However, their interaction with the hosting water body and implications for ecosystem function is poorly understood. Understanding potential impacts is critical as water bodies provide many ecosystem services on which humans rely and are integral for delivering the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here, we used scientific evidence from a systematic review and stakeholder expertise, captured through an international survey and a workshop, alongside existing understanding of the role of water bodies in delivering ecosystem services and the SDGs. We found 22 evidence outcomes that indicated potential physical, chemical and biological impacts of FPV on water bodies. Assessment by stakeholders from across sectors indicated that reduced water evaporation is the greatest opportunity, whilst changes to water chemistry, including nitrification and deoxygenation, are the greatest threat. Despite these findings, FPV operators reported no observed water quality or ecosystem impacts. However, only 15% of respondents had performed water quality analysis; visual inspection alone cannot ascertain all water quality impacts. Based on the integration of these findings, we determined that FPV could impact nine ecosystem services. Furthermore, established linkages between ecosystem services and SDGs indicate the potential for impacts on eight SDGs, although whether the impact is positive or negative is likely to depend on FPV design and water body type. Our results further the understanding of the effects of FPVs on host water bodies and may help to ensure the anticipated growth in FPVs minimises threats and maximises opportunities, safeguarding overall sustainability.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗