Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Community Assessment”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7

Beware of agents when flying aircraft: Basic principles behind a generic methodology for the evaluation and certification of advanced aviation systems

There is currently a growing interest in the aeronautical community to assess the effects of the increasing levels of automation on pilots' performance and overall safety. The first effect of automation is the change in the nature of the pilot's role on the flight deck. Pilots have become supervisors who monitor aircraft systems in usual situations and intervene only when unanticipated events occur. Instead of 'hand flying' the airplane, pilots contribute to the control of aircraft by acting as mediators, instructions given to the automation. By eliminating the need for manually controlling normal situations, such a role division has reduced the opportunities for the pilot to acquire experience and skills necessary to safely cope with abnormal events. Difficulties in assessing the state and behavior of automation arise mainly from four factors: (1) the complexity of current systems and consequence mode-related problems; (2) the intrinsic autonomy of automation which is able to fire mode transitions without explicit commands from the pilots; (3) the bad quality of feed-back from the control systems displays and interfaces to the pilots; and (4) the fact that the automation currently has no explicit representation of the current pilots' intentions and strategy. Assuming certification has among its major goals to guarantee the passengers' and pilots' safety and the airplane integrity under normal and abnormal operational conditions, the authors suggest it would be particularly fruitful to come up with a conceptual reference system providing the certification authorities both with a theoretical framework and a list of principles usable for assessing the quality of the equipment and designs under examination. This is precisely the scope of this paper. However, the authors recognize that the conceptual presented is still under development and would thus be best considered as a source of reflection for the design, evaluation and certification processes of advanced aviation technologies.

Javaux, Denis↗

Subsurface Intertidal Microbes: A Cryptic Source Of Organic Carbon For Beach Ecosystems

Some freshwater, marine or hotspring beaches have no visible source of primary production, yet beneath the surface is an interstitial photosynthetic microbial community. To assess the significance of this source of organic carbon, we measured in situ carbon fixation rates in an intertidal marine beach through a diurnal cycle. Gross fixation for a transect (99 x 1 m) perpendicular to the shore was approx. 4041 mg C fixed/ day, or approx. 41 mg C fixed/ sq m day. In contrast, an adjacent well-established cyanobacterial (Lyngbya) mat was approx. 12 x as productive (approx. 490 mg C fixed/sq m day). Thus, subsurface sand mats may be an overlooked, yet important, endogenous source of organic carbon for intertidal ecosystems, as well as a sink in the global carbon cycle.

Rothschild, Lynn J.↗

Assessment of changes in microbial community structure during operation of an ammonia biofilter with molecular tools

Biofiltration has been used for two decades to remove odors and various volatile organic and inorganic compounds in contaminated off-gas streams. Although biofiltration is widely practiced, there have been few studies of the bacteria responsible for the removal of air contaminants in biofilters. In this study, molecular techniques were used to identify bacteria in a laboratory-scale ammonia biofilter. Both 16S rRNA and ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) genes were used to characterize the heterotrophic and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria collected from the biofilter during a 102-day experiment. The overall diversity of the heterotrophic microbial population appeared to decrease by 38% at the end of the experiment. The community structure of the heterotrophic population also shifted from predominantly members of two subdivisions of the Proteobacteria (the beta and gamma subdivisions) to members of one subdivision (the gamma subdivision). An overall decrease in the diversity of ammonia monooxygenase genes was not observed. However, a shift from groups dominated by organisms containing Nitrosomonas-like and Nitrosospira-like amoA genes to groups dominated by organisms containing only Nitrosospira-like amoA genes was observed. In addition, a new amoA gene was discovered. This new gene is the first freshwater amoA gene that is closely affiliated with Nitrosococcus oceanus and the particulate methane monooxygenase gene from the methane oxidizers belonging to the gamma subdivision of the Proteobacteria.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗

NASA GEOS-3/TRMM Re-analysis: Capturing Observed Tropical Rainfall Variability in Global Analysis for Climate Research

Understanding climate variability over a wide range of space-time scales requires a comprehensive description of the earth system. Global analyses produced by a fixed assimilation system (i.e., re-analyses) - as their quality continues to improve - have the potential of providing a vital tool for meeting this challenge. But at the present time, the usefulness of re-analyses is limited by uncertainties in such basic fields as clouds, precipitation, and evaporation - especially in the tropics, where observations are relatively sparse. Analyses of the tropics have long been shown to be sensitive to. the treatment of cloud precipitation processes, which remains a major source of uncertainty in current models. Yet, for many climate studies it is crucial that analyses can accurately reproduce the observed rainfall intensity and variability since a small error of 1 mm/d in surface rain translates into an error of approx. 30 W/sq m in energy (latent heat) flux. Currently, discrepancies between the observed and analyzed monthly-mean rain rates averaged to 100 km x 100 km resolution can exceed 4 mm/d (or 120 W/sq m ), compared to uncertainties in surface radiative fluxes of approx. 10-20 W/sq m . Improving precipitation in analyses would reduce a major source of uncertainty in the global energy budget. Uncertainties in tropical precipitation have also been a major impediment in understanding how the tropics interact with other regions, including the remote response to El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability on interannual time scales, the influence of Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and monsoons on intraseasonal time scales. A global analysis that can replicate the observed precipitation variability together with physically consistent estimates of other atmospheric variables provides the key to breaking this roadblock. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has been exploring the use of satellite-based microwave rainfall measurements in improving global analyses and has recently produced a multi-year, 1 x 1 TRMM re-analysis , which assimilates 6-hourly TMI and SSM/I surface rain rates over tropical oceans using a ID variational continuous assimilation (VCA) procedure in the GEOS-3 global data assimilation system. The analysis period extends from 1 November 1997 through 3 1 December 2002. The goal is to produce a multi-year global analysis that is dynamically consistent with available tropical precipitation observations for the community to assess its utility in climate applications and identify areas for further improvements. A distinct feature of the GEOS-3RRMh4 re-analysis is that its precipitation analysis is not derived from a short-term forecast (as done in most operational systems) but is given by a time- continuous model integration constrained by precipitation observations within a 6-h analysis window, while the wind, temperature, and pressure fields are allowed to directly respond to the improved precipitation and associated latent heating structures within the same analysis window. In this talk, I will assess the impact VCA precipitation assimilation on analyses of climate signals ranging from a few weeks to interannual time scales and compare results against other operational and reanalysis products.

Hou, Arthur Y.↗

A National Partnership-Based Summer Learning Initiative to Engage Underrepresented Students with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

In response to the White House Educate to Innovate campaign, NASA developed a new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education program for non-traditional audiences that also focused on public-private partnerships and nationwide participation. NASA recognized that summer break is an often overlooked but opportune time to engage youth in STEM experiences, and elevated its ongoing commitment to the cultivation of diversity. The Summer of Innovation (SoI) is the resulting initiative that uses NASA's unique missions and resources to boost summer learning, particularly for students who are underrepresented, underserved and underperforming in STEM. The SoI pilot, launched in June 2010, is a multi-faceted effort designed to improve STEM teaching and learning through partnership, multi-week summer learning programs, special events, a national concluding event, and teacher development. The SoI pilot features strategic infusion of NASA content and educational resource materials, sustainability through STEM Learning Communities, and assessments of effectiveness of SoI interventions with other pilot efforts. This paper examines the inception and development of the Summer of Innovation pilot project, including achievements and effectiveness, as well as lessons learned for future efforts.

Melvin, Leland↗

An Interim Report on NASA's Draft Space Technology Roadmaps

NASA has developed a set of 14 draft roadmaps to guide the development of space technologies under the leadership of the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT). Each of these roadmaps focuses on a particular technology area (TA). The roadmaps are intended to foster the development of advanced technologies and concepts that address NASA's needs and contribute to other aerospace and national needs. OCT requested that the National Research Council conduct a study to review the draft roadmaps, gather and assess relevant community input, and make recommendations and suggest priorities to inform NASA's decisions as it finalizes its roadmaps. The statement of task states that "based on the results of the community input and its own deliberations, the steering committee will prepare a brief interim report that addresses high-level issues associated with the roadmaps, such as the advisability of modifying the number or technical focus of the draft NASA roadmaps." This interim report, which does not include formal recommendations, addresses that one element of the study charge. NASA requested this interim report so that it would have the opportunity to make an early start in modifying the draft roadmaps based on feedback from the panels and steering committee. The final report will address all other tasks in the statement of task. In particular, the final report will include a prioritization of technologies, will describe in detail the prioritization process and criteria, and will include specific recommendations on a variety of topics, including many of the topics mentioned in this interim report. In developing both this interim report and the final report to come, the steering committee draws on the work of six study panels organized by technical area, loosely following the organization of the 14 roadmaps, as follows: A Panel 1: Propulsion and Power TA01 Launch Propulsion Systems TA02 In-Space Propulsion Technologies TA03 Space Power and Energy Storage Systems TA13 Ground and Launch Systems Processing B Panel 2: Robotics, Communications, and Navigation TA04 Robotics, TeleRobotics, and Autonomous Systems TA05 Communication and Navigation Systems C Panel 3: Instruments and Computing TA08 Science Instruments, Observatories, and Sensor Systems TA11 Modeling, Simulation, Information Technology, and Data Processing D Panel 4: Human Health and Surface Exploration TA06 Human Health, Life Support, and Habitation Systems TA07 Human Exploration Destination Systems E Panel 5: Materials Panel TA10 Nanotechnology TA12 Materials, Structures, Mechanical Systems, and Manufacturing TA14 Thermal Management Systems F Panel 6: Entry, Descent, and Landing Panel TA09 Entry, Descent, and Landing Systems In addition to drawing on the expertise represented on the steering committee and panels, the committee obtained input from each of 14 public workshops held on each of the 14 roadmaps. At these 1-day workshops, invited speakers, guests, and members of the public engaged in discussions on the different technology areas and their value to NASA. Broad community input was also solicited from a public website, where more than 240 public comments were received on the draft roadmaps in response to application of criteria (such as benefit, risk and reasonableness, and alignment with NASA and national goals) that the steering committee established. This interim report reflects the results of deliberations by the steering committee in light of these public inputs as well as additional inputs from the six panels. The steering committee's final report will be completed early in 2012. That report will prioritize the technologies that span the entire scope of the 14 roadmaps and provide additional guidance on crosscutting themes and other relevant topics.

Source record↗

Solar System Science with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope

We present a community-led assessment of the solar system investigations achievable with NASA's next-generation space telescope, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). WFIRST will provide imaging, spectroscopic, and coronagraphic capabilities from 0.43 to 2.0 m and will be a potential contemporary and eventual successor to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Surveys of irregular satellites and minor bodies are where WFIRST will excel with its 0.28 deg2 field-of-view Wide Field Instrument. Potential ground- breaking discoveries from WFIRST could include detection of the first minor bodies orbiting in the inner Oort Cloud, identification of additional Earth Trojan asteroids, and the discovery and characterization of asteroid binary systems similar to Ida/Dactyl. Additional investigations into asteroids, giant planet satellites, Trojan asteroids, Centaurs, Kuiper belt objects, and comets are presented. Previous use of astrophysics assets for solar system science and synergies between WFIRST, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, JWST, and the proposed Near-Earth Object Camera mission is discussed. We also present the case for implementation of moving target tracking, a feature that will benefit from the heritage of JWST and enable a broader range of solar system observations.

Holler, Bryan J.↗

Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraphs Designs for Future Segmented Space Telescopes

A coronagraphic starlight suppression system situated on a future flagship space observatory offers a promising avenue to image Earth-like exoplanets and search for biomarkers in their atmospheric spectra. One NASA mission concept that could serve as the platform to realize this scientific breakthrough is the Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor (LUVOIR). Such a mission would also address a broad range of topics in astrophysics with a multi-wavelength suite of instruments. The apodized pupil Lyot coronagraph (APLC) is one of several coronagraph design families that the community is assessing as part of NASAs Exoplanet Exploration Program Segmented aperture coronagraph design and analysis (SCDA) team. The APLC is a Lyot-style coronagraph that suppresses starlight through a series of amplitude operations on the on-axis eld. Given a suite of seven plausible segmented telescope apertures, we have developed an object-oriented software toolkit to automate the exploration of thousands of APLC design parameter combinations. This has enabled us to empirically establish relationships between planet throughput and telescope aperture geometry, inner working angle, bandwidth, and contrast level.In parallel with the parameter space exploration, we have investigated several strategies to improve the robust-ness of APLC designs to fabrication and alignment errors. We also investigate the combination of APLC withwavefront control or complex focal plane masks to improve inner working angle and throughput. Preliminaryscientic yield evaluations based on design reference mission simulations indicate the APLC is a very competitiveconcept for surveying the local exoEarth population with a mission like LUVOIR.

coronagraphic starlight suppression system↗

2018 NISAR Applications Workshop: Wetlands; Workshop Report

Wetland ecosystems are a critical part of our natural environment, providing socioeconomic benefits to human communities and habitats to a rich diversity of plant and animal life. Socioeconomic benefits include improved water quality, flood control, foods, shoreline stabilization, groundwater recharge, and recreational opportunities. Wetlands also have a major role as carbon sinks and sources through processes that are influenced by the duration and timing of soil saturation and inundation. Thus, carbon and water cycle models must take into account wetland extent and seasonal patterns of wetland inundation. The joint NASA, US Geological Survey (USGS) and Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) workshop focused on advancing wetland applications of the spaceborne NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mission (NISAR), a jointly developed satellite between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) expected for launch early 2022. Participants from 15 national and international organizations --including US Federal Agencies, nonprofits, academics, and the private sector-- had been identified as key-players in facilitating integration of Earth Observations into decision support workflows. Discussions were held over two and a half days to convey the knowledge and measurement needs of the wetlands community and discuss the delivery of relevant geospatial products that could be derived from NISAR data. While the community typically characterizes wetlands by their hydrological process, vegetation and soil types, a central defining characteristic is that a wetland is a land area inundated or saturated in the rootzone for at least 2 weeks of the average vegetation growing season.

FWS↗

How Wrong Can the Operational AEP Uncertainty Estimate Be When We Ignore the Correlations Between the Uncertainty Components?

Calculations of wind farm annual energy production (AEP) on operational data are essential for a variety of financial transactions during the life of wind plants. The AEP estimate is associated with an uncertainty value, which is calculated by combining contributions connected to on-site measurements, long-term reference measurements, losses, regression, windiness adjustment, and wind resource interannual variability. Although very limited documentation on the topic exists, the conventional approach currently used by the wind energy community to assess the uncertainty connected to the operational AEP estimate assume that the different uncertainty components are uncorrelated and therefore calculates the overall uncertainty with a sum of squares approach. In this analysis, we contrast the traditional technique to estimate the overall AEP uncertainty by ignoring the correlation between its different components with a novel Monte Carlo based approach, which can instead take into account the correlation between different uncertainty categories. We consider monthly operational data from 472 wind farms from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) 923 database to assess the difference between the two approaches. Long-term wind speed data needed for the AEP assessment are taken from three reanalysis products: the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications v2 (MERRA-2), the European Reanalysis Interim (ERA-interim), and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction v2 (NCEP-2). The results of the Monte Carlo approach show that three pairs of AEP uncertainty components do show a statistically significant correlation: the uncertainty connected with wind resource inter-annual variability is positively correlated with the one related to the windiness correction and negatively correlated with the one due to the regression, and the wind measurement uncertainty is positively correlated with the regression uncertainty. All these correlations, which are found between uncertainty components which are not only part of an operational analysis, but also of a wind resource assessment, are currently ignored in the conventional techniques used as industry standard. We further investigate the causes of these correlations, in terms of common dependencies of different uncertainty components on wind resource variability, number of data points, and quality of the regression between wind speed and energy production data. Next, we quantify the error in the current industry standard technique, in terms of the percentage difference in total uncertainty calculated with the two considered approaches, for all the analyzed wind farms. We find a mean absolute percentage difference of about 6%, with the largest differences being greater than 20%. The data clearly confirm that ignoring the actual correlation between the uncertainty components can lead to large errors in the assessment of the operational AEP uncertainty, and the proposed Monte Carlo approach should be preferred.

Monte Carlo↗

Three Modeling Tools Accelerate the Development of Marine Energy Technologies

Enough power flows through U.S. rivers and oceans to meet up to 60% of the country's electricity needs. But before today's early-stage marine energy technologies can harness some of that power, they need to overcome a few challenges, like a volatile ocean and high development costs. And to do that, technology developers need reliable tools to understand and overcome the challenges they face. That's why researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed several open-source, validated, and customizable numerical tools for technology developers. With these tools, the marine energy community can assess their devices' potential power output, predict how their technologies might handle extreme loads (like extreme waves), and learn how changing one component might affect their device's performance. The lab's models generate highly accurate, reliable, robust data that can help marine energy devices leap from the computer screen to the ocean and, eventually, the power grid.

current energy↗

Multi-Modal Characterization of Nuclear Fuels and Materials at the Idaho National Laboratory Materials & Fuels Complex

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) leads cutting-edge research pertaining to the advancement of nuclear reactor technologies, including nuclear fuels and materials. The INL Irradiated Materials Characterization Laboratory (IMCL), Electron Microscopy Laboratory (EML), and future Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL) are available to the nuclear research community to assess the behavior of nuclear fuels and materials, efficiently and comprehensively characterizing from the engineering to atomistic scale. The IMCL is a unique, 12,000-square-foot facility located at the INL Materials and Fuels Complex designed for analysis of irradiated materials. The facility operates advanced characterization instruments that are sensitive to vibration, temperature, and electromagnetic interference in modular radiological shielding and confinement systems, granting researchers the ability to assess the microstructural, chemical, mechanical and thermophysical properties of nuclear materials, especially irradiated fuels. The EML is dedicated to advanced characterization of materials with optical and electron microscopy tools, including scanning electron microscopy/focused-ion beam (SEM/FIB) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Upon construction, the SPL will be a 3 story, 49,000 sq. ft facility, that is the most modern reactor structural materials testing and analysis facility in the world, designed to investigate reactor structural materials in support of life-extension programs and development of advanced reactor concepts, including mechanical testing and advanced characterization capabilities. This presentation will showcase some of the main capabilities available at both IMCL, EML, and SPL, specifically illustrating how these characterization techniques are incorporated into multi-modal characterization work scopes to elucidate the degradation of nuclear structural materials and irradiated fuels.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Community Planning for Solar: Conducting a Solar Resource and Infrastructure Assessment

This guide describes how to conduct a Solar Resource and Infrastructure Assessment. The guide is designed to assist community officials, volunteers, and regional planning agency staff in conducting a preliminary assessment for a municipality, community, or other jurisdiction, based primarily on a desktop analysis of existing documents and data. The guide provides a process that can be used to inventory and describe existing infrastructure, community needs, and resources from the perspective of solar development planning.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Enabling Research Tools for Sustained Climate Assessment

The U.S. Global Change Research Program Sustained Assessment process benefits from long-term investments in Earth science research that enable the scientific community to conduct assessment-relevant science. To this end, NASA initiated several research programs over the past five years to support the Earth observation community in developing indicators, datasets, research products, and tools to support ongoing and future National Climate Assessments. These activities complement NASA's ongoing Earth science research programs. One aspect of the assessment portfolio funds four "enabling tools" projects at NASA research centers. Each tool leverages existing capacity within the center, but has developed tailored applications and products for National Climate Assessments. The four projects build on the capabilities of a global atmospheric reanalysis (MERRA-2), a continental U.S. land surface reanalysis (NCA-LDAS), the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX), and a Regional Climate Model Evaluation System (RCMES). Here, we provide a brief overview of each enabling tool, highlighting the ways in which it has advanced assessment science to date. We also discuss how the assessment community can access and utilize these tools for National Climate Assessments and other sustained assessment activities.

Research↗

Assessment Framework of Marine Hydrokinetic Technologies for Microgrid Applications

Communities in Alaska that are not connected to a regional grid (referred to hereafter as grid-islanded Alaskan communities) rely heavily on stand-alone generators with imported diesel fuel as the primary source of energy. Several of these grid-islanded Alaskan communities have the potential to harness significant wave, tidal, and hydrokinetic power; many also have hydropower or wind potential that could complement these resources. The implementation of marine and hydrokinetic energy focused microgrids in these communities would diversify their energy profiles, with the potential in many communities to keep costs flat while reducing dependance on diesel. This would enhance resilience and reduce environmental impacts. This seedling proposal will systematically identify grid-islanded coastal communities in Alaska with wave, tidal, and hydrokinetic energy potential to add fuel diversity to generation, applying microgrid integration methods and strategies that will meet the community’s needs. This proposal is in partnership with the Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) and XENDEE Corporation who bring extensive expertise in Alaskan communities and microgrid technoeconomic assessment, respectively. This project will deliver: (1) a database of grid-islanded communities that are candidates for MHK based microgrids, (2) an assessment of possible microgrid integration methods and strategies related to tidal, wave, and hydrokinetic technologies, and (3) a MHK development plan for the XENDEE Microgrid design platform and planning tool that can serve these grid-islanded communities and project developers. In the final stage, the planning tool will allow for the comprehensive comparison between diesel based and MHK based renewable generation.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

Energy Efficiency Assessment for a Microgrid in the Community of Castañer, Puerto Rico

The Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña (Cooperativa) and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council office in Puerto Rico (IREC) are leading the development of a community solar photovoltaic (PV) microgrid comprised of a 225 kWDC photovoltaic system tied to a 500 kWh storage system in the Community of Castañer, in the town of Lares in Puerto Rico. This microgrid will support the electricity needs of eight essential businesses and four homes. The Cooperativa and IREC requested technical assistance to help conduct a comprehensive energy efficiency assessment for the commercial buildings to maximize the impact of the solar PV microgrid. The goal was to identify energy conservation measures that would have the highest impact in terms of reducing electricity demand in order to; reduce the size and cost of the PV microgrid; and reduce the annual operating costs for building owners.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Theoretical Foundations of Remote Sensing for Glacier Assessment and Mapping

The international scientific community is actively engaged in assessing ice sheet and alpine glacier fluctuations at a variety of scales. The availability of stereoscopic, multitemporal, and multispectral satellite imagery from the optical wavelength regions of the electromagnetic spectrum has greatly increased our ability to assess glaciological conditions and map the cryosphere. There are, however, important issues and limitations associated with accurate satellite information extraction and mapping, as well as new opportunities for assessment and mapping that are all rooted in understanding the fundamentals of the radiation transfer cascade. We address the primary radiation transfer components, relate them to glacier dynamics and mapping, and summarize the analytical approaches that permit transformation of spectral variation into thematic and quantitative parameters. We also discuss the integration of satellite-derived information into numerical modeling approaches to facilitate understandings of glacier dynamics and causal mechanisms.

Remote Sensing↗

Workshop on Spectroscopy of the Martian Surface: What Next?

Members of the Mars infrared spectral community desired to assess what spectral instrument will best serve the Mars program and spectral community after the successful flight of currently planned instruments. It was felt this issue needed to be addressed, given the shift of the NASA Mars program toward a search for regions conductive to the preservation of biomarkers, and the desire for sample return. To this end, leaders of the planetary community with expertise in spectroscopy and remote mineral identification met to discuss the state of understanding of Mars surface composition, and to assess what critical gaps may exist: 1) after the successful completion of planned measurements of Mars; and 2) in research programs to support investigations of the current and planned data sets. Participants also discussed the proposed Mars airplane. This report summarizes our consensus.

Kirkland, L.↗