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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
NASA NTRS2022

NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement Mission: Leveraging Stakeholder Engagement & Applications Activities to Inform Decision-making

The application of satellite precipitation estimates from NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission for decision-making has been a focus for the mission since launch. As a result, GPM data have enabled a range of applications that address societal needs, including water resource management, crop forecasting, ecological monitoring, disaster response, public health, aviation, weather forecasting, and climate modeling, among others. GPM applications activities have continued to focus on user engagement through in person trainings and interviews, workshops, webinars, and educational outreach activities. The goals of these efforts are to synthesize community data needs in order to effectively support and enable decision-making across agencies, academia and the global community. While these efforts have helped the GPM mission establish a large stakeholder community that encompasses federal and state partners, academic institutions, nd private and nonprofit companies, there remains difficulties associated with accessing, processing, and applying the data to support or enable applications. In this article, we present GPM applications strategies and approaches used to enhance the applications value of GPM data, and most importantly, demonstrate how these efforts have and can inform different decision-making contexts. This work also provides a discussion on key lessons learned from the user community and how this information can be utilized to help better support and shape applications approaches for future NASA Earth Science missions.

Satellite precipitation↗
DOE OSTI2025

The Pierre Auger Observatory open data

The Pierre Auger Collaboration has embraced the concept of open access to their research data since its foundation, with the aim of giving access to the widest possible community. A gradual process of release began as early as 2007 when 1% of the cosmic-ray data was made public, along with 100% of the space-weather information. In February 2021, a portal was released containing 10% of cosmic-ray data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory from 2004 to 2018, during the first phase of operation of the Observatory. The Open Data Portal includes detailed documentation about the detection and reconstruction procedures, analysis codes that can be easily used and modified and, additionally, visualization tools. Since then, the Portal has been updated and extended. In 2023, a catalog of the highest-energy cosmic-ray events examined in depth has been included. A specific section dedicated to educational use has been developed with the expectation that these data will be explored by a wide and diverse community, including professional and citizen scientists, and used for educational and outreach initiatives. This paper describes the context, the spirit, and the technical implementation of the release of data by the largest cosmic-ray detector ever built and anticipates its future developments.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

ECP ST Project 2.3.1.06-STPM08-RAJA (Final Report)

Modern high-performance computing architectures are diverse, with hardware designs that feature multicore CPUs and CPUs plus accelerators, such as GPUs or FPGAs. Achieving good application performance often requires using a programming model and managing application data in ways that are best suited to a particular platform. For large codes that are used daily in production, and are under continual development, architecture-specific ports are untenable. Maintainability requires single-source code that is performance portable across a range of architectures and programming model back-ends. This report describes RAJA, Umpire, and CHAI, three software libraries that provide complementary capabilities to enable application portability for high performance computing (HPC) platforms. In particular, these libraries provide software abstractions that insulate application source code from hardware architecture and programming model-specific implementation details. These development of these libraries was motivated by the needs of multiphysics applications in the Weapons Simulation and Computing Program (WSC) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Funding though the Exascale Computing Project (ECP) Software Technology (ST) project 2.3.1.06 RAJA has fostered outreach and collaboration with the ECP application and software technology development communities. In this report, we describe ECP adoption and integration of these tools to this point. The larger goal of the report is to describe to the ECP community what these projects offer, how they are used, and how to approach adoption and integration of them.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

An Educational Program on Concentrated Solar Power and Heliostats for Power Generation and Industrial Processes

The objective of this project was to design and implement a comprehensive educational and applied research program in Concentrated Solar Thermal Power (CSTP) and heliostat technologies at Northeastern University. In alignment with the U.S. Department of Energy's Heliostat Consortium (HelioCon) goals, the project aimed to expand student and public understanding of CSTP systems while simultaneously contributing to workforce development and the broader decarbonization strategy. A particular emphasis was placed on integrating hands-on student design projects and publicly disseminating educational content relevant to CSTP systems. The project addressed a critical gap in renewable energy education: CSTP and heliostats, despite their importance in utility-scale solar energy, are rarely included in standard mechanical engineering programs. This project established new pathways for students to engage with the topic through the creation of a 4-credit graduate/senior elective course, development of five industry-facing short courses, and the inclusion of CSTP-based capstone design projects. Over two academic years, 36 students across six senior design teams developed and tested technologies such as deformable heliostats, beacon-based tracking systems, and solar-powered pyrolizers for biomass-to-biochar conversion. Concurrently, 30 undergraduate and graduate students were enrolled in the new academic course centered around CSTP principles. To ensure the relevance and accessibility of the short course content, the project team engaged with industry professionals, technical policy stakeholders, and potential course participants through structured surveys and informal consultations. Feedback from 28 respondents guided the structure, length, and delivery format of the courses - resulting in a modular design broken into five workshops. The feedback emphasized the need for flexible, asynchronous delivery and practical case studies, particularly in areas such as heliostat control, thermal storage, and solar fuel production. This engagement helped align the courses with the evolving knowledge demands of the renewable energy workforce and ensured that participants from both technical and policy backgrounds could meaningfully benefit from the material. The research and educational activities advanced the understanding of heliostat control systems, optical performance under misalignment, and thermal system integration in solar-driven pyrolysis applications. Methods and designs explored in this project proved to be both technically effective and economically feasible at the lab scale. Prototypes were constructed using commercially available components and custom-fabricated elements, demonstrating that meaningful performance improvements can be achieved with modest material and fabrication costs, supporting the feasibility of student-led research in this field. The public benefit of this project is twofold. First, it cultivates a pipeline of engineers trained to be familiar with CSTP principles, an essential workforce need identified by the Department of Energy for achieving its 2030 cost and deployment targets. Second, it contributes openly accessible educational materials, course content, and experimental frameworks to the broader community, enabling other institutions to adopt or adapt similar programming. Through outreach activities, curriculum integration, and technical exposure, this project contributes to a more informed and capable renewable energy workforce while supporting innovation in heliostat and CSTP system design. A new technical report is being prepared to document the development of the course and its outcomes, with plans to publish it in the ASME Open Access Journal of Engineering to ensure global accessibility, free of cost.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Societal impacts of particle physics projects

Large particle physics projects funded by the U.S. Government require an evaluation and mitigation of each project’s potential impacts on the local communities. However, beyond meeting governmental requirements, particle physics projects stand to play an essential role in local decision-making, building relationships, and framing discussions about key projects by becoming meaningfully engaged in their local communities. In this white paper for the U.S. Particle Physics Community Planning Exercise (“Snowmass"), we examine several local community engagement efforts made by three facilities: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), and the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF). Although each facility focuses on a different endeavor in varying types of communities, each study highlights the importance and benefits of employing consistent outreach techniques, promoting diversity, establishing lasting relationships, and creating environments for open and honest communication.

Zens, Rochelle↗
DOE OSTI2020

Removing the Cloak of Secrecy from Legacy Cleanup at Los Alamos national Laboratory - 20395

With the establishment in 2018 of the Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Contract, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and its contractor Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) embarked on an expansive program to engage a broad range of local and regional stakeholders in the decision-making process for cleanup of legacy wastes (pre-1999) at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). From the inception of LANL during the Manhattan Project until the issuance of the new cleanup contract, the site was managed by a single management and operations (M and O) contactor whose main focus was national security. Segmenting from laboratory operations a separate cleanup contract managed by DoE's Office of Environmental Management (EM) brought new opportunities for the cleanup of legacy waste. That change likewise has opened new opportunities for engaging the community on legacy cleanup decisions. The new legacy cleanup contract - an unclassified contract - emphasizes public outreach, marking a cultural shift in how stakeholders in Los Alamos and throughout northern New Mexico are engaged. Without the constraints of classified work, EM-LA and N3B have increased the level of transparency with the public regarding cleanup activities. EM-LA and N3B have crafted an approach that best meets the values, priorities and needs of the neighboring communities by adapting the model successfully employed at Rocky Flats. Through enhanced stakeholder involvement, EM-LA will implement decisions that have considered broad input and deliver a safe and efficient cleanup of the site. EM-LA and N3B began the expanded stakeholder outreach program in January 2019, leading up to four Environmental Management Cleanup Forums held in the summer of 2019. EM-LA and N3B are now in the process of initiating a series of meetings with various stakeholder groups to determine their 'values' as they relate to cleanup using a novel approach that elicits and records values. The entire process is documented, ensuring that should questions arise about how, when and why decisions were made, they can be easily addressed. In addition to other public meetings to present cleanup scenarios and solicit active public involvement in cleanup decisions, the EM-LA and N3B approach involves discussions with stakeholders who want to explore specific technical issues and cleanup discussions in depth. EM-LA and N3B are also evaluating and implementing a variety of communications tools to help ensure the engagement plan sets the gold standard for transparency in legacy cleanup and stakeholder involvement. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Final Report for CSP Tower Public Opinion and Education Project

As part of the CSP Plant Optimization Study for the California Power Market (DE-EE0009809) the project wanted to understand the public’s opinion of the technology and and explore the types of community engagement that is needed to support such development. The initial objectives for the public perception activities were twofold. The primary objective was to gather public opinion and feedback from the communities living near the two operating solar power tower plants, Ivanpah and Crescent Dunes, and to distill lessons learned from the community engagement conducted before, during, and after the plants were developed to inform future development. This included outreach to nearby airports. The other objective was to gauge public opinion about large-scale solar, specifically CSP towers, to start educating the public on the benefits and to begin building relationships with communities of interest, initially targeting the Kingman, Arizona area. The objectives shifted after the first exploratory trip to Ivanpah and Kingman, however, as it became apparent that it would be challenging to gather public opinion from the community surrounding Ivanpah that could be useful for other community profiles, and the company wasn’t ready to address the concerns in Kingman. Another area was chosen, therefore, to represent those where future development is possible. The recently published Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Perceptions of Large-Scale Solar Project Neighbors Study exemplified public perception polling based on social science and served as the foundation for the survey questions taken to the field. The intent was to ensure that people knew their input was valued and that the time they spent was valuable for the participant as well. It has been noted in the literature that in-person interaction has greater benefits than activities online or via mail, as well as limits the expense.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1999

Establishing a Distance Learning Plan for International Space Station (ISS) Interactive Video Education Events (IVEE)

Educational outreach is an integral part of the International Space Station (ISS) mandate. In a few scant years, the International Space Station has already established a tradition of successful, general outreach activities. However, as the number of outreach events increased and began to reach school classrooms, those events came under greater scrutiny by the education community. Some of the ISS electronic field trips, while informative and helpful, did not meet the generally accepted criteria for education events, especially within the context of the classroom. To make classroom outreach events more acceptable to educators, the ISS outreach program must differentiate between communication events (meant to disseminate information to the general public) and education events (designed to facilitate student learning). In contrast to communication events, education events: are directed toward a relatively homogeneous audience who are gathered together for the purpose of learning, have specific performance objectives which the students are expected to master, include a method of assessing student performance, and include a series of structured activities that will help the students to master the desired skill(s). The core of the ISS education events is an interactive videoconference between students and ISS representatives. This interactive videoconference is to be preceded by and followed by classroom activities which help the students aftain the specified learning objectives. Using the interactive videoconference as the centerpiece of the education event lends a special excitement and allows students to ask questions about what they are learning and about the International Space Station and NASA. Whenever possible, the ISS outreach education events should be congruent with national guidelines for student achievement. ISS outreach staff should recognize that there are a number of different groups that will review the events, and that each group has different criteria for acceptance. For example, school administrators are more likely to be concerned about an event meeting national standards and the cost of the event. In contrast, a teacher's acceptance of an education event may be directly related to the amount of extra work the event imposes upon that teacher. ISS education events must be marketed differently to the different groups of educators, and must never increase the workload of the average teacher.

Wallington, Clint↗
DOE OSTI2026

Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project Strategic Energy Plan for Washington County, Maine

This Strategic Energy Plan (SEP) for Washington County, Maine was developed through the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project (ETIPP) to address local challenges related to electricity reliability, affordability, and safety. Grounded in a "relational infrastructure" approach, the plan recognizes that improved energy outcomes depend not only on physical grid investments but also on strengthened coordination and trust between utilities and communities. Using utility-provided reliability data, public datasets, and community input, the plan identifies key risks, including vegetation-related outages, high energy burden, and vulnerability among elderly and medically dependent populations. The SEP establishes three priority areas: hazard mitigation for energy infrastructure, outage safety and emergency readiness, and energy assistance and thermal safety. It outlines community-driven actions designed to complement utility-led system improvements, including targeted outreach, municipal coordination, and expanded access to energy programs. The plan also situates local conditions within broader state policy, market dynamics, and funding opportunities. Intended as a living document, this SEP provides a scalable framework for collaborative action to improve resilience, safety, and affordability in rural energy systems.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS1976

NASA Langley Research Center outreach in astronautical education

The Langley Research Center has traditionally maintained an active relationship with the academic community, especially at the graduate level, to promote the Center's research program and to make graduate education available to its staff. Two new institutes at the Center - the Joint Institute for Acoustics and Flight Sciences, and the Institute for Computer Applications - are discussed. Both provide for research activity at the Center by university faculties. The American Society of Engineering Education Summer Faculty Fellowship Program and the NASA-NRC Postdoctoral Resident Research Associateship Program are also discussed.

Duberg, J. E.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Synchrotron Catalysis Consortium (SCC) at NSLS-II: Dedicated Beamline Facilities for In Situ and Operando Characterization of Catalysts

The Synchrotron Catalysis Consortium (SCC) was funded and established in September 2005 at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). For more than a decade, the SCC was the first of its kind in the United States, with a mission to promote the utilization of synchrotron techniques for cutting-edge catalysis research under in-situ conditions. The consortium consists of three Principal Investigators (Jingguang Chen, Columbia University, Anatoly Frenkel, Stony Brook University/BNL, and Jose Rodriguez, BNL) and scientific staff member Nebojsa Marinkovic. The initial team also included Radoslav Adzic, BNL, and collaborators from academic, national, and industrial laboratories. During the first decade of its operations at three NSLS beamlines (X18A, X18B, and X19A) until the closing of NSLS on September 30, 2014, the primary goal of the SCC team was to provide assistance and to develop new sciences/techniques to the catalysis community...This report outlines a brief history, specifications, techniques, and training and outreach for the facility.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Electric Grid, Distributed Generation, and Grid Interconnection

This fact sheet is part of the Community Planning for Solar toolkit designed to help Massachusetts municipalities and others proactively plan for solar development in their communities. This fact sheet will walk you through the electricity system, and help you understand how the grid is changing as distributed generation (DG) electricity sources become more common.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

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↗
DOE OSTI2020

Solar Resource and Infrastructure Assessment for the Town of Blandford

This report is a solar resource and infrastructure assessment for the town of Blandford, Massachusetts. The assessment was funded through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Solar Energy Innovation Network (NREL SEIN) Solar in Rural Communities Program, as part of a project to develop a Community-Informed Proactive Solar Siting and Financing Model. As a first step, the project lead organization, UMass Clean Energy Extension prepared an assessment of existing infrastructure, resources, and potential solar development opportunities in participating municipalities, including Blandford. This assessment was designed to describe relevant bylaws and infrastructure within the town, identify the types of solar facilities that could be developed, and quantify the total space available for each type of facility. In this report, we reviewed existing electricity grid infrastructure, and the potential to interconnect additional solar facilities. At the present time, most distribution lines providing electricity to Blandford are over-saturated with authorized and proposed solar projects, and cannot accommodate additional solar projects to interconnect to the grid. We can expect significant upgrades to these circuits, if any of the in-process projects are to proceed, which might then free up additional capacity for new projects. There is one circuit which serves a section of North Blandford Road that is not over-saturated; for the immediate future, this is the most cost-effective location for new large-scale projects to be sited. Meanwhile, most three-phase lines could likely accommodate additional small-to-medium scale projects (under 200 kW), and most single-phase lines could likely accommodate additional projects under 50 kW in size. This description represents the local grid infrastructure as it is - planning for future scenarios of development could include recommendations for areas of grid infrastructure improvement to allow siting of distributed generation in preferred locations. Future scenarios may also include the addition energy storage and other "non-wires alternatives."

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Solar Resource and Infrastructure Assessment for the Town of Wendell

This report is a solar resource and infrastructure assessment for the town of Wendell, Massachusetts. The assessment was funded through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Solar Energy Innovation Network (NREL SEIN) Solar in Rural Communities Program, as part of a project to develop a Community-Informed Proactive Solar Siting and Financing Model. As a first step, the project lead organization, UMass Clean Energy Extension prepared an assessment of existing infrastructure, resources, and potential solar development opportunities in participating municipalities, including Wendell. This assessment was designed to describe relevant bylaws and infrastructure within the town, identify the types of solar facilities that could be developed, and quantify the total space available for each type of facility. In this report, we reviewed existing electricity grid infrastructure, and the potential to interconnect additional solar facilities. At the present time, both distribution lines providing electricity to Wendell are over-saturated with authorized and proposed solar projects, and cannot accommodate additional solar projects to interconnect to the grid. It appears that National Grid is planning an upgrade to the Wendell Depot substation, which might then allow in-process projects are to proceed, and potentially free up additional capacity for new, large projects. Meanwhile, most three-phase lines could likely accommodate additional small-to-medium scale projects (under 200 kW), and most single-phase lines could likely accommodate additional projects under 50 kW in size. This description represents the local grid infrastructure as it is - planning for future scenarios of development could include recommendations for areas of grid infrastructure improvement to allow siting of distributed generation in locations preferred by the community. Future scenarios may also include the addition energy storage and other "non-wires alternatives."

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Solar Resource and Infrastructure Assessment for the Town of Westhampton

This report is a solar resource and infrastructure assessment for the town of Westhampton, Massachusetts. The assessment was funded through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Solar Energy Innovation Network (NREL SEIN) Solar in Rural Communities Program, as part of a project to develop a Community-Informed Proactive Solar Siting and Financing Model. As a first step, the project lead organization, UMass Clean Energy Extension prepared an assessment of existing infrastructure, resources, and potential solar development opportunities in participating municipalities, including Westhampton. This assessment was designed to describe relevant bylaws and infrastructure within the town, identify the types of solar facilities that could be developed, and quantify the total space available for each type of facility. In this report, we reviewed existing electricity grid infrastructure, and the potential to interconnect additional solar facilities. At the present time, both distribution lines providing electricity to Westhampton are oversaturated with authorized and proposed solar projects, and cannot accommodate additional solar projects to interconnect to the grid. Future upgrades could potentially free up additional capacity for new, large projects. Meanwhile, most three-phase lines could likely accommodate additional small-to-medium scale projects (under 200 kW), and most single-phase lines could likely accommodate additional projects under 50 kW in size. This description represents the local grid infrastructure as it is - planning for future scenarios of development could include recommendations for areas of grid infrastructure improvement to allow siting of distributed generation in locations preferred by the community. Future scenarios may also include the addition energy storage and other "non-wires alternatives."

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗