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At least 1,063 records · Page 59
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2023

The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2023. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2023 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.

Record of Decision↗
DOE OSTI2023

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) (Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER), Calendar Year 2022)

The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2022. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2022 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

West Valley Demonstration Project Annual Site Environmental Report (CY2019)

The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2019. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2019 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

Laser Disdrometer Quantities (LDQUANTS) and Video Disdrometer Quantities (VDISQUANTS) Value-Added Products Report

Disdrometers are useful instruments that measure the distribution of raindrop sizes (drop size distribution: DSD) and the associated rainfall rates/accumulation as those raindrops fall to the ground. These DSDs are a quantity of interest to members of the modeler and observational communities. However, use of disdrometer data for model evaluation, radar monitoring, or other activities requires careful quality control and processing for key DSD properties of interest (e.g., the number concentration of drops) to ensure appropriate physical (scattering, fall speed) assumptions. The U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Laser Disdrometer Quantities and Video Disdrometer Quantities Value-Added Product (LDQUANTS/VDISQUANTS VAP) uses standard methods from Tokay et al. (e.g., 2013, 2014) to filter drops with unrealistic fall speeds. Further, it estimates several microphysical/geophysical quantities of parameterized DSDs (gamma or exponential assumption type fitting methods) as in previous disdrometer studies and ARM long-term efforts (e.g., Testud et al. 2001, Giangrande et al. 2014, Thompson et al. 2015). Disdrometers are also beneficial for cross-checks with other instrumentation, including rain gauges and radars. To support research interests and related radar monitoring activities, this product calculates radar equivalent quantities, including dual polarization radar quantities (e.g., Z, Differential Reflectivity ZDR, etc.), using T-Matrix scattering and additional wavelength, temperature, and drop shape assumptions (e.g., Thurai et al. 2007). All of these efforts allow disdrometer data sets to become more useful and easily handled by modeling and observational studies, or routine instrumentation checks.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Cleaned 5-Minute Resolution Air Quality and Meteorological Data from Nine TCEQ CAMS Sites in Houston, Texas (Nov 2021 – Oct 2022)

These data encompass 5-minute air monitoring and meteorological observations collected in the greater Houston, Texas metropolitan region, at nine (9) Continuous Ambient Monitoring Stations (CAMS) operated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) between November 1, 2021 and October 31, 2022. The CAMS sites (CAMS 1, 8, 35, 45, 148, 403, 405, 410, and 1052) were chosen because their instrumentation includes measurements of PM2.5. These sites also provide continuous multi-parameter air-quality and meteorological measurements. Particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) was sampled along with several trace gases, including ozone (O3), nitrogen oxides (NO, NO2, NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO). The data set also contains standard surface meteorological parameters (temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed, and wind direction). Several sites also include AutoGC-based measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Air monitoring instruments deployed at the selected sites comprise the following systems: BAM-1020 or TEOM (PM2.5), Thermo Scientific TEI 49i (O3), TEI 42i (NOx), and AutoGCs (VOCs). This data set is similar to the data included within the houairq5mX1.00 datastream, except for a few additional quality control steps. A systematic data cleaning and verification process was performed on the data set to ensure its quality and preparation for analysis. Removal of non-numeric status flags (e.g., [LIM], [QAS], [SPZ], [CAL], [PMA], [AQI], [SPN], [MAL]) was accomplished by employing rule-based string parsing to extract valid numerical values. Missing entries were set to -9999; however, invalid or anomalous values (e.g., 99999) were retained as originally reported by the TCEQ to preserve data provenance. The time sequence was verified for completeness, removal of duplicates, and uniformity at 5-minute intervals. Column labeling was standardized, and corresponding values were assessed for physical plausibility. All timestamps in the data set were reported in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) as provided by the TCEQ. Further, the latitude and longitude coordinates were added for each CAMS site. A subset of the data (June 1–September 30, 2022) has been used in the following publication: Subba et al. 2025. “Implications of sea breeze circulations on boundary layer aerosols in the southern coastal Texas region.” EGUsphere 2025: 1–49, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2659.

latitude↗
NASA NTRS2019

Four Years of Airborne Measurements of Wildfire Emissions in California, with a Focus on the Evolution of Emissions During the Soberanes Megafire

Biomass burning is an important source of trace gases and particles which can influence air quality on local, regional, and global scales. With wildfire events increasing due to changes in land use, increasing population, and climate change, characterizing wildfire emissions and their evolution is vital. In this work we report in situ airborne measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), water vapor (H2O), ozone (O3), and formaldehyde (HCHO) from nine wildfire events in California between 2013 and 2016, which were sampled as part of the Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX) based at NASA Ames Research Center. One of those fires, the Soberanes Megafire, began on 22 July 2016 and burned for three months. During that time, five flights were executed to sample emissions near and downwind of the Soberanes wildfire. In situ data are used to determine enhancement ratios (ERs), or excess mixing ratio relative to CO2, as well as assess O3 production from the fire. Changes in the emissions as a function of fire evolution are explored. Air quality impacts downwind of the fire are addressed using ground-based monitoring site data, satellite smoke products, and the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) photochemical grid model.

Iraci, Laura T.↗
DOE OSTI2025

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2024

The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2024. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, evaluation of data collected in 2024 continued to indicate that WVDP activities pose no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Quality Assurance Project Plan for Closure of the Central Facilities Area Sewage Treatment Plant Lagoon 3 and Land Application Area

This quality assurance project plan describes the technical requirements and quality assurance activities of the environmental data collection/analyses operations to close Central Facilities Area Sewage treatment Plant Lagoon 3 and the land application area. It describes the organization and persons involved, the data quality objectives, the analytical procedures, and the specific quality control measures to be employed. All quality assurance project plan activities are implemented to determine whether the results of the sampling and monitoring performed are of the right type, quantity, and quality to satisfy the requirements for closing Lagoon 3 and the land application area.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS2000

An Architecture for Real-Time Interpretation and Visualization of Structural Sensor Data in a Laboratory Environment

A visualization system is being developed out of the need to monitor, interpret, and make decisions based on the information from several thousand sensors during experimental testing to facilitate development and validation of structural health monitoring algorithms. As an added benefit the system will enable complete real-time sensor assessment of complex test specimens. Complex structural specimens are routinely tested that have hundreds or thousands of sensors. During a test, it is impossible for a single researcher to effectively monitor all the sensors and subsequently interesting phenomena occur that are not recognized until post-test analysis. The ability to detect and alert the researcher to these unexpected phenomena as the test progresses will significantly enhance the understanding and utilization of complex test articles. Utilization is increased by the ability to halt a test when the health monitoring algorithm response is not satisfactory or when an unexpected phenomenon occurs, enabling focused investigation potentially through the installation of additional sensors. Often if the test continues, structural changes make it impossible to reproduce the conditions that exhibited the phenomena. The prohibitive time and costs associated with fabrication, sensoring, and subsequent testing of additional test articles generally makes it impossible to further investigate the phenomena. A scalable architecture is described to address the complex computational demands of structural health monitoring algorithm development and laboratory experimental test monitoring. The researcher monitors the test using a photographic quality 3D graphical model with actual sensor locations identified. In addition, researchers can quickly activate plots displaying time or load versus selected sensor response along with the expected values and predefined limits. The architecture has several key features. First, distributed dissimilar computers may be seamlessly integrated into the information flow. Second, virtual sensors may be defined that are complex functions of existing sensors or other virtual sensors. Virtual sensors represent a calculated value not directly measured by particular physical instrument. They can be used, for example, to represent the maximum difference in a range of sensors or the calculated buckling load based on the current strains. Third, the architecture enables autonomous response to preconceived events, where by the system can be configured to suspend or abort a test if a failure is detected in the load introduction system. Fourth, the architecture is designed to allow cooperative monitoring and control of the test progression from multiple stations both remote and local to the test system. To illustrate the architecture, a preliminary implementation is described monitoring the Stitched Composite Wing recently tested at LaRC.

Doggett, William↗
DOE OSTI2026

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2025

The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2025. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of the DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, the evaluation of data collected in 2025 continued to indicate that WVDP activities posed no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

Quality assurance of temporal variability of natural decay chain and neutron induced background for low-level NORM analysis

In this study, twenty-one high purity germanium (HPGe) background spectra were collected over 2 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory. A quality assurance methodology was developed to monitor spectral background levels from thermal and fast neutron flux levels and naturally occurring radioactive material decay series radionuclides. 238 U decay products above 222 Rn demonstrated minimal temporal variability beyond that expected from counting statistics. 238 U and 232 Th progeny below Rn gas displayed at most twice the expected variability. Further, an analysis of the 139 keV 74 Ge(n, γ) and 691 keV 72 Ge(n, n') spectral features demonstrated temporal stability for both thermal and fast neutron fluxes.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2018

Environmental Impact Analysis on the Hydraulic Fracture Test Site (HFTS)

Objective The Hydraulic Fracture Test Site (HFTS) provided a platform to test new extraction and production techniques and technologies to understand fracture geometry and increase the efficiency of shale hydrocarbon production. Eleven test wells were drilled in the Upper and Middle Wolfcamp formations, hydraulically fractured, and produced. Air quality, groundwater quality, and produced water chemistry and microbiology were monitored through the duration of the field experiment and one year into production. Methods BTEX, methane, VOCs, SOx, NOx, and PM 10 were measured 1,000 ft up-wind and 1,000 ft down-wind of the HFTS experiment before operations began, during hydraulic fracturing, flowback, and several months into production to evaluate operational impact on local air quality. The underlying Edward-Trinity Plateau aquifer was monitored using 5 groundwater wells within 2 miles of the HFTS pad; BTEX, methane, petroleum hydrocarbons, and a comprehensive suite of anions and metals were analyzed from samples taken before operations began, during hydraulic fracturing, flowback, and one year after production. Water produced from 3 of the 11 HFTS wells was analyzed for chemical and microbiological properties 1.5 years into production. Observations There was no significant impact to air quality from HFTS operations, although elevated BTEX concentrations were measured 1,000 ft. away from the well-pads during the flowback period. We detected no migration of hydrocarbon or fracture fluid chemical migration into the Edward-Trinity Plateau aquifer. Source waters used for hydraulic fracturing contained naturally occurring high concentrations (~500ppm) of sulfate. Rapid microbially induced corrosion was detected in several wells, leading to biocide dosing. Microbiological populations were significantly altered by biocide treatment, but still continued to increase in population size six months after application. Significance After hydraulic fracturing, detailed chemical and microbiological analysis provides evidence for microbiologicallymediated sub-surface transformations of supplied sulfate and organic carbon into sulfides. This report discusses air quality, water quality, and produced water analytical results for the HFTS experiment and further implications for the unconventional oil and gas industry.

Eisenlord, Sarah↗
DOE OSTI2024

Review of In Situ Sensing for Directed Energy Deposition for Industrial Part Quality Assessment

As the use additive manufacturing (AM) processes continues to grow in critical industries, improved quality assurance methods are becoming increasingly sought after for qualification and certification of AM components. Traditional nondestructive evaluation of printed components is often unable to supply the required confidence in print quality to justify qualification and certification, but the layer-by-layer nature of AM provides unprecedented opportunities for in situ quality inspection. This document summarizes recent developments in process monitoring research specifically related to Directed Energy Deposition (DED). Particular attention is given to three aspects of the highlighted manuscripts: (1) the type of sensors used, (2) features extracted from each sensor modality, and (3) analysis of extracted features for AM quality assessment. Based on the review of the state-of-the-art, several observations have been made. First, none of the reviewed works have applied their trained models to real part geometries, with many of the works relying on single track experiments, thin-walled structures, and cubes. Similarly, there have not been any works demonstrating model generalizability, i.e., a model trained on data from one build allows for fruitful analysis of data from another build. Many works used machine learning techniques to distinguish different process regimes (i.e., normal, keyholing, lack-of-fusion), but very few papers have investigated stochastic variation in an already “optimized” process. Sensor fusion approaches are also limited in the DED sensing literature, but the few works that have employed such techniques have demonstrated the benefits. Finally, registration of in situ data to the build coordinate system is of paramount importance to producing industrially relevant in situ monitoring systems. Data registration allows direct correlations between process anomalies detected in the process monitoring data to localized departures in part quality, but such techniques are generally lacking in the current literature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

2021 Idaho National Laboratory Site Environmental Report

The INL Site’s operations, as well as the ongoing cleanup, necessarily involve a commitment to environmental stewardship and full compliance with environmental protection laws. As part of this commitment, the INL Site Environmental Report is prepared annually to inform the public, regulators, stakeholders, and other interested parties of the INL Site’s environmental performance during the year. This report is published for the DOE-ID in compliance with DOE O 231.1B, “Environment, Safety and Health Reporting.” Its purpose is to: • Present the INL Site, mission, and programs • Report compliance status with applicable federal, state, and local regulations • Describe the INL Site environmental programs and activities • Summarize results of environmental monitoring • Discuss potential radiation doses to the public residing in the vicinity of the INL Site • Report on ecological monitoring and research conducted by contractors and affiliated agencies and by independent researchers through the Idaho National Environmental Research Park • Describe quality assurance methods used to ensure confidence in monitoring data • Provide supplemental technical data and reports that support the INL Site Environmental Report (https://idahoeser.inl.gov/publications.html).

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-T-325: The New Evaluation Method of the VMAT Plan Delivery Using Varian DynaLog Files and Modulation Complexity Score (MCS)

Purpose: The aim of the study is to evaluate the use of Varian DynaLog files to verify VMAT plans delivery and modulation complexity score (MCS) of VMAT. Methods: Delivery accuracy of machine performance was quantified by multileaf collimator (MLC) position errors, gantry angle errors and fluence delivery accuracy for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). The relationship between machine performance and plan complexity were also investigated using the modulation complexity score (MCS). Plan and Actual MLC positions, gantry angles and delivered fraction of monitor units were extracted from Varian DynaLog files. These factors were taken from the record and verify system of MLC control file. Planned and delivered beam data were compared to determine leaf position errors and gantry angle errors. Analysis was also performed on planned and actual fluence maps reconstructed from those of the DynaLog files. This analysis was performed for all treatment fractions of 5 prostate VMAT plans. The analysis of DynaLog files have been carried out by in-house programming in Visual C++. Results: The root mean square of leaf position and gantry angle errors were about 0.12 and 0.15, respectively. The Gamma of planned and actual fluence maps at 3%/3 mm criterion was about 99.21. The gamma of the leaf position errors were not directly related to plan complexity as determined by the MCS. Therefore, the gamma of the gantry angle errors were directly related to plan complexity as determined by the MCS. Conclusion: This study shows Varian dynalog files for VMAT plan can be diagnosed delivery errors not possible with phantom based quality assurance. Furthermore, the MCS of VMAT plan can evaluate delivery accuracy for patients receiving of VMAT. Machine performance was found to be directly related to plan complexity but this is not the dominant determinant of delivery accuracy.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fusion Power measurement at ITER

Nuclear fusion research aims to provide energy for the future in a sustainable way and the ITER project scope is to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear fusion energy. ITER is a nuclear experimental reactor based on a large scale fusion plasma (tokamak type) device generating Deuterium - Tritium (DT) fusion reactions with emission of 14 MeV neutrons producing up to 700 MW fusion power. The measurement of fusion power, i.e. total neutron emissivity, will play an important role for achieving ITER goals, in particular the fusion gain factor Q related to the reactor performance. Particular attention is given also to the development of the neutron calibration strategy whose main scope is to achieve the required accuracy of 10% for the measurement of fusion power. Neutron Flux Monitors located in diagnostic ports and inside the vacuum vessel will measure ITER total neutron emissivity, expected to range from 1014 n/s in Deuterium - Deuterium (DD) plasmas up to almost 10{sup 21} n/s in DT plasmas. The neutron detection systems as well all other ITER diagnostics have to withstand high nuclear radiation and electromagnetic fields as well ultrahigh vacuum and thermal loads. (authors)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS2022

A Network of Field-Calibrated Low-Cost Sensor Measurements of PM2.5 in Lomé, Togo, Over One to Two Years

Air pollution is a leading cause of global premature mortality and is especially prevalent in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In sub-Saharan Africa, preliminary monitoring networks, satellite retrievals of air-quality-relevant species, and air quality models show ambient fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) concentrations that far exceed the World Health Organization guidelines, yet many areas remain largely unmonitored and understudied. Deploying a network of five low-cost PurpleAir PM 2.5 monitors over 2 years (2019–2021), we present the first multiyear ambient air pollution monitoring data results from Lomé, Togo, a major West African coastal city with a population of about 1.4 million people. The full-study time period network-wide mean measured daily PM 2.5 concentration is 23.5 μ g m –3 m –3 . The strong regional influence of the dry and dusty Harmattan wind increases the local average PM 2.5 concentration by up to 58% during December through February, but the diurnal and weekly trends in PM 2.5 are largely controlled by local influences. At all sites, more than 87% of measured days exceeded the new WHO Daily PM 2.5 guidelines; these first measurements highlight the need for air quality improvement in a rapidly growing urban metropolis.

air pollution↗
DOE OSTI2021

Investigating the influence of environmental information on perceived indoor environmental quality: An exploratory study

Under the assumption that information can impact perception, most research on human sensation and satisfaction with indoor environmental quality (IEQ) parameters has been conducted with respondents uninformed about the test conditions. Therefore, researchers know little about the impact of information on perception. These potential effects are increasingly relevant as quantitative information about indoor environments becomes accessible via low-cost, wirelessly connected sensors. In this experimental study, 48 subjects were exposed to varied indoor environmental conditions and provided with different types of environmental information. The subjects' sensation and satisfaction were compared when they were blinded or provided with quantitative information about and/or qualitative ratings of specific parameters. The results indicate that accurate information on parameter values influenced how the subjects perceived the indoor air quality (IAQ) but not how they perceived the thermal, acoustic, or visual quality. The subjects rated the IAQ more positively when they were informed that there were nonzero ventilation rates. The qualitative ratings influenced the subjects' perceptions of all four environmental factors, but in different directions. The subjects generally had more positive sensation and higher satisfaction when they were told that the parameter values and qualitative ratings were more favorable than the test conditions. However, the improved sensation and satisfaction were often not as good as when the environmental conditions were actually improved and the subjects were provided with accurate information. Here, these findings affirm the critical need for more research on the impacts of information on perceptions of the indoor environment.

42 ENGINEERING↗