Resource inventory techniques used in the California Desert Conservation Area
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Mcleod, R. G.↗
SEARCH · Search NASA
Results for “RESOURCE CONSERVATION”
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.
An integrated GIS/remote sensing data base in North Cache soil conservation district, Utah: A pilot project for the Utah Department of Agriculture's RIMS (Resource Inventory and Monitoring System)
A basic geographic information system (GIS) for the North Cache Soil Conservation District (SCD) was sought for selected resource problems. Since the resource management issues in the North Cache SCD are very complex, it is not feasible in the initial phase to generate all the physical, socioeconomic, and political baseline data needed for resolving all management issues. A selection of critical varables becomes essential. Thus, there are foud specific objectives: (1) assess resource management needs and determine which resource factors ae most fundamental for building a beginning data base; (2) evaluate the variety of data gathering and analysis techniques for the resource factors selected; (3) incorporate the resulting data into a useful and efficient digital data base; and (4) demonstrate the application of the data base to selected real world resoource management issues.
Wheeler, D. J.↗
Potential of derived lunar volatiles for life support
The lunar regolith contains small quantities of solar wind implanted volatile compounds that have vital, basic uses for maintaining life support systems of lunar or space settlements. Recent proposals to utilize the helium-3 isotope (He-3) derived from the lunar regolith as a fuel for fusion reactors would result in the availability of large quantities of other lunar volatile compounds. The quantities obtained would provide the annual life support replacement requirements of 1150 to 23,000 inhabitants per ton of He-3 recovered, depending on the volatile compound. Utilization of the lunar volatile compounds for life support depends on the costs, in terms of materials and energy, associated with their extraction from the lunar regolith as compared to the delivery costs of these compounds from Earth resources. Considering today's conservative estimated transportation costs ($10,000 dollars per kilogram) and regolith mining costs ($5 dollars per ton), the life support replacement requirements could be more economically supplied by recovering the lunar volatile compounds than transporting these materials from Earth resources, even before He-3 will be utilized as a fusion fuel. In addition, availability of lunar volatile compounds could have a significant cost impact on maintaining the life support systems of the space station and a Mars base.
Bula, R. J.↗
ISS Regenerative Life Support: Challenges and Success in the Quest for Long-Term Habitability in Space
This presentation will discuss the International Space Station s (ISS) Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) operations with discussion of the on-orbit lessons learned, specifically regarding the challenges that have been faced as the system has expanded with a growing ISS crew. Over the 10 year history of the ISS, there have been numerous challenges, failures, and triumphs in the quest to keep the crew alive and comfortable. Successful operation of the ECLSS not only requires maintenance of the hardware, but also management of the station resources in case of hardware failure or missed re-supply. This involves effective communication between the primary International Partners (NASA and Roskosmos) and the secondary partners (JAXA and ESA) in order to keep a reserve of the contingency consumables and allow for re-supply of failed hardware. The ISS ECLSS utilizes consumables storage for contingency usage as well as longer-term regenerative systems, which allow for conservation of the expensive resources brought up by re-supply vehicles. This long-term hardware, and the interactions with software, was a challenge for Systems Engineers when they were designed and require multiple operational workarounds in order to function continuously. On a day-to-day basis, the ECLSS provides big challenges to the on console controllers. Main challenges involve the utilization of the resources that have been brought up by the visiting vehicles prior to undocking, balance of contributions between the International Partners for both systems and resources, and maintaining balance between the many interdependent systems, which includes providing the resources they need when they need it. The current biggest challenge for ECLSS is the Regenerative ECLSS system, which continuously recycles urine and condensate water into drinking water and oxygen. These systems were brought to full functionality on STS-126 (ULF-2) mission. Through system failures and recovery, the ECLSS console has learned how to balance the water within the systems, store and use water for contingencies, and continue to work with the International Partners for short-term failures. Through these challenges and the system failures, the most important lesson learned has been the importance of redundancy and operational workarounds. It is only because of the flexibility of the hardware and the software that flight controllers have the opportunity to continue operating the system as a whole for mission success.
Bazley, Jesse A.↗
US Army Corps of Engineers requirements and programs
Plans by the Corps of Engineers to utilize data collection systems to support their mission of development, utilization, and conservation of the water resources of the Nation, flood control, water management, hydroelectric power, maintenance of navigable waterways, reservoir construction, and river basin control are briefly addressed.
Jarman, J. W.↗
Characterization of users of remotely-sensed data in the Alabama coastal zone
Federal, State, local, universities and private companies were polled to determine their needs for remote sensing data. A total of 62 users were polled. Poll results are given in tables. A comprehensive research program was developed to satisfy user needs, and is examined for the disciplines of Geology, Water Resources, Archaeology, Geography, and Conservation. An investigation of silt plume discharge from Mobile Bay is also examined. Sample poll forms used in the surveys are shown.
Vittor, B. A.↗
Investigation of storage system designs and techniques for optimizing energy conservation in integrated utility systems. Volume 1: (Executive summary)
Integrated Utility Systems (IUS) have been suggested as a means of reducing the cost and conserving the nonrenewable energy resources required to supply utility services (energy, water, and waste disposal) to developments of limited size. The potential for further improving the performance and reducing the cost of IUS installations through the use of energy storage devices is examined and the results are summarized. Candidate energy storage concepts in the general areas of thermal, inertial, superconducting magnetic, electrochemical, chemical, and compressed air energy storage are assessed and the storage of thermal energy as the sensible heat of water is selected as the primary candidate for near term application to IUS.
Source record↗
Background and principle applications of remote sensing in Mexico
Remote sensing, or the collection of information from objectives at a distance, crystallizes the interest in implementing techniques which assist in the search for solutions to the problems raised by the detection, exploitation, and conservation of the natural resources of the earth. An attempt is made to present an overview of the studies and achievements which have been obtained with remote sensing in Mexico.
Perez, J. A. D.↗
Summary results from the NASA Tech House one year live-in
The NASA Tech House was designed and constructed at the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., to demonstrate and evaluate new technology potentially applicable for conservation of energy and resources and for improvements in safety and security in a single-family residence. All technology items, including solar energy systems and a waste water reuse system, were evaluated under actual living conditions for a one-year period with a family of four living in the house in their normal life style. Results are presented which show overall savings in energy and resources compared to requirements for a defined similar conventional house under the same conditions. Also included are general operational experience and performance data for all the various items and systems of technology incorporated into the house design.
Hamlet, I. L.↗
An evaluation of the NASA Tech House, including live-in test results, volume 1
The NASA Tech House was designed and constructed at the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, to demonstrate and evaluate new technology potentially applicable for conservation of energy and resources and for improvements in safety and security in a single-family residence. All technology items, including solar-energy systems and a waste-water-reuse system, were evaluated under actual living conditions for a 1 year period with a family of four living in the house in their normal lifestyle. Results are presented which show overall savings in energy and resources compared with requirements for a defined similar conventional house under the same conditions. General operational experience and performance data are also included for all the various items and systems of technology incorporated into the house design.
Abbott, I. H. A.↗
An explicit mixed numerical method for mesoscale model
A mixed numerical method has been developed for mesoscale models. The technique consists of a forward difference scheme for time tendency terms, an upstream scheme for advective terms, and a central scheme for the other terms in a physical system. It is shown that the mixed method is conditionally stable and highly accurate for approximating the system of either shallow-water equations in one dimension or primitive equations in three dimensions. Since the technique is explicit and two time level, it conserves computer and programming resources.
Hsu, H.-M.↗
Benefits Assessment of Algorithmically Combining Generic High Altitude Airspace Sectors
In today's air traffic control operations, sectors that have traffic demand below capacity are combined so that fewer controller teams are required to manage air traffic. Controllers in current operations are certified to control a group of six to eight sectors, known as an area of specialization. Sector combinations are restricted to occur within areas of specialization. Since there are few sector combination possibilities in each area of specialization, human supervisors can effectively make sector combination decisions. In the future, automation and procedures will allow any appropriately trained controller to control any of a large set of generic sectors. The primary benefit of this will be increased controller staffing flexibility. Generic sectors will also allow more options for combining sectors, making sector combination decisions difficult for human supervisors. A sector-combining algorithm can assist supervisors as they make generic sector combination decisions. A heuristic algorithm for combining under-utilized air space sectors to conserve air traffic control resources has been described and analyzed. Analysis of the algorithm and comparisons with operational sector combinations indicate that this algorithm could more efficiently utilize air traffic control resources than current sector combinations. This paper investigates the benefits of using the sector-combining algorithm proposed in previous research to combine high altitude generic airspace sectors. Simulations are conducted in which all the high altitude sectors in a center are allowed to combine, as will be possible in generic high altitude airspace. Furthermore, the algorithm is adjusted to use a version of the simplified dynamic density (SDD) workload metric that has been modified to account for workload reductions due to automatic handoffs and Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B). This modified metric is referred to here as future simplified dynamic density (FSDD). Finally, traffic demand sets with increased air traffic demand are used in the simulations to capture the expected growth in air traffic demand by the mid-term.
Bloem, Michael↗
Jemez Pueblo Agriculture: Monitoring Rangeland Conditions to Inform Drought and Land Management in New Mexico
The Jemez Pueblo, a community located in the semi-arid high desert region of northcentral New Mexico, faces challenges with drought mitigation and livestock management. NASA DEVELOP partnered with the Pueblo of Jemez Natural Resources Department and The Nature Conservancy to provide recent and historical rangeland conditions to aid present decision-making, which relies on cultural practices, site familiarity, available resources, and physical data. This partnership offers the opportunity to support management practices by leveraging remote sensing and virtual fencing technologies. Our project explored Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP) products incorporating NASA Earth observation Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+, Landsat 8 OLI, and Landsat 9 OLI-2 remote-sensed imagery as an agricultural land management tool. We performed linear regression analysis to evaluate RAP data to field data and explored RAP annual herbaceous biomass, ground cover trends, and climatic factors at the pasture level. We then computed study area summary statistics, performed pixel-by-pixel trend analysis across the study period, and evaluated ground cover trends near water sources. Based on available data, RAP was poorly correlated to bare ground and herbaceous biomass, generally underestimating the former and overestimating the latter. To improve the evaluation of RAP products, we suggest increasing the spatiotemporal distribution of the field dataset. According to RAP, from 1986 to 2023, the site became hotter and drier, bare ground increased, and annual forbs and grasses increased while perennials decreased. RAP products did not agree with field-collected data; however, the trends over time may be useful for informing rangeland management actions.
cattle grazing management↗
Oregon Coast Range Ecological Conservation: Mapping Recent Logging Within Drinking Watersheds of Oregon’s Coastal Range to Support Future Resource Management Policies
Logging operations are widespread across the Oregon Coast Range and conventional logging practices pose a risk of contamination to surface water quality. The NASA DEVELOP Oregon Coast Ecological Conservation team partnered with nonprofit Oregon Wild to quantify the extent of clearcutting and commercial thinning in 80 Coast Range drinking watersheds between 2000 and 2022. This project used all available Landsat data from 1997 through June 2023 in Google Earth Engine. Sensors used include Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper, Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus, Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager, and Landsat 9 Operational Land Imager-2. The Continuous Change Detection and Classification (CCDC) algorithm was used with Landsat observations to identify clearcutting patches. Percent change in summer median Landsat Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images were used to identify areas of forest disturbance including commercial thinning. The team concluded that logging, including both clearcutting and commercial thinning, impacted 31% of forested area in drinking watersheds and the intensity of logging remained consistent from year to year. Clearcutting occurred primarily on private land while commercial thinning occurred primarily on state and federal lands. This study showed that CCDC effectively identifies clearcutting, and percent change in NDVI successfully identifies disturbances including commercial thinning. Key constraints included the lack of field validation data and the inability to attribute disturbances to logging with certainty. Ultimately, this study identified the drinking watersheds and communities most likely to be impacted by logging activity. These results can inform legislation aimed at balancing the commercial and environmental benefits of forestlands.
Logging↗
Puget Sound Water Resources: Using Earth Observations to Map Bull Kelp in the Puget Sound, Washington, to Support Conservation and Restoration
Bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) is a critical component of nearshore ecosystems in the Puget Sound region of the Salish Sea. The Port of Seattle and Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have identified possible declines in bull kelp extent and changes in its distribution throughout the Central Puget Sound near Seattle, Washington. Bull kelp losses threaten critical ecological services and marine habitat, as well as important cultural resources. However, these changes are not well tracked or understood due to the expensive and time-intensive nature of traditional kelp canopy monitoring methods. The Port of Seattle and Washington DNR partnered with the NASA DEVELOP team to explore the feasibility of using Earth observations between 2016 and 2021 obtained from Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Sentinel-2 MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) as a potential tool to monitor and map bull kelp. Our team identified a variety of challenges that need to be addressed before this approach can be utilized as an effective means for identifying or mapping nearshore urban kelp beds. We found that neither Sentinel-2 nor Landsat 8 significantly differentiates between kelp and no-known kelp using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) or Normalized Difference Red-Edge Blue (NDREB). While the tidal and current filtering methods discussed here may be beneficial for identifying promising single image dates for kelp classification, the filters we used reduced the number of images each year to the point that modeling or mapping yearly kelp extent or creating time series of kelp did not appear to be feasible.
Mike Hitchner↗
Water resources planning for rivers draining into Mobile Bay. Part 2: Non-conservative species transport models
Total coliform group bacteria were selected to expand the mathematical modeling capabilities of the hydrodynamic and salinity models to understand their relationship to commercial fishing ventures within bay waters and to gain a clear insight into the effect that rivers draining into the bay have on water quality conditions. Parametric observations revealed that temperature factors and river flow rate have a pronounced effect on the concentration profiles, while wind conditions showed only slight effects. An examination of coliform group loading concentrations at constant river flow rates and temperature shows these loading changes have an appreciable influence on total coliform distribution within Mobile Bay.
April, G. C.↗
Remote sensing techniques for the detection of soil erosion and the identification of soil conservation practices
The following paper is a summary of a number of techniques initiated under the AgRISTARS (Agriculture and Resources Inventory Surveys Through Aerospace Remote Sensing) project for the detection of soil degradation caused by water erosion and the identification of soil conservation practices for resource inventories. Discussed are methods to utilize a geographic information system to determine potential soil erosion through a USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation) model; application of the Kauth-Thomas Transform to detect present erosional status; and the identification of conservation practices through visual interpretation and a variety of enhancement procedures applied to digital remotely sensed data.
Pelletier, R. E.↗
Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics (MAPPPD): Data and Tools for Dynamic Management and Decision Support
The Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics (MAPPPD) is a web-based, open access, decision-support tool designed to assist scientists, non-governmental organizations and policy-makers working to meet the management objectives as set forth by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and other components of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) (that is, Consultative Meetings and the ATS Committee on Environmental Protection). MAPPPD was designed specifically to complement existing efforts such as the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP) and the ATS site guidelines for visitors. The database underlying MAPPPD includes all publicly available (published and unpublished) count data on emperor, gentoo, Adelie) and chinstrap penguins in Antarctica. Penguin population models are used to assimilate available data into estimates of abundance for each site and year.Results are easily aggregated across multiple sites to obtain abundance estimates over any user-defined area of interest. A front end web interface located at www.penguinmap.com provides free and ready access to the most recent count and modelled data, and can act as a facilitator for data transfer between scientists and Antarctic stakeholders to help inform management decisions for the continent.
Humphries, G. R. W.↗