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At least 1,423 records · Page 79

Characterizing 3D Vegetation Structure from Space: Mission Requirements

Human and natural forces are rapidly modifying the global distribution and structure of terrestrial ecosystems on which all of life depends, altering the global carbon cycle, affecting our climate now and for the foreseeable future, causing steep reductions in species diversity, and endangering Earth s sustainability. To understand changes and trends in terrestrial ecosystems and their functioning as carbon sources and sinks, and to characterize the impact of their changes on climate, habitat and biodiversity, new space assets are urgently needed to produce high spatial resolution global maps of the three-dimensional (3D) structure of vegetation, its biomass above ground, the carbon stored within and the implications for atmospheric green house gas concentrations and climate. These needs were articulated in a 2007 National Research Council (NRC) report (NRC, 2007) recommending a new satellite mission, DESDynI, carrying an L-band Polarized Synthetic Aperture Radar (Pol-SAR) and a multi-beam lidar (Light RAnging And Detection) operating at 1064 nm. The objectives of this paper are to articulate the importance of these new, multi-year, 3D vegetation structure and biomass measurements, to briefly review the feasibility of radar and lidar remote sensing technology to meet these requirements, to define the data products and measurement requirements, and to consider implications of mission durations. The paper addresses these objectives by synthesizing research results and other input from a broad community of terrestrial ecology, carbon cycle, and remote sensing scientists and working groups. We conclude that: (1) current global biomass and 3-D vegetation structure information is unsuitable for both science and management and policy. The only existing global datasets of biomass are approximations based on combining land cover type and representative carbon values, instead of measurements of actual biomass. Current measurement attempts based on radar and multispectral data have low explanatory power outside low biomass areas. There is no current capability for repeatable disturbance and regrowth estimates. (2) The science and policy needs for information on vegetation 3D structure can be successfully addressed by a mission capable of producing (i) a first global inventory of forest biomass with a spatial resolution 1km or finer and unprecedented accuracy (ii) annual global disturbance maps at a spatial resolution of 1 ha with subsequent biomass accumulation rates at resolutions of 1km or finer, and (iii) transects of vertical and horizontal forest structure with 30 m along-transect measurements globally at 25 m spatial resolution, essential for habitat characterization. We also show from the literature that lidar profile samples together with wall-to53 wall L-band quad-pol-SAR imagery and ecosystem dynamics models can work together to satisfy these vegetation 3D structure and biomass measurement requirements. Finally we argue that the technology readiness levels of combined pol-SAR and lidar instruments are adequate for space flight. Remaining to be worked out, are the particulars of a lidar/pol-SAR mission design that is feasible and at a minimum satisfies the information and measurement requirement articulated herein.

Hall, Forrest G.↗

Title: Characterizing a Frozen Extrasolar World

The recently discovered brown dwarf WISE 0855 presents our first opportunity to study an object outside the Solar System that is nearly as cold as our own gas giant planets. However the traditional methodology for characterizing brown dwarfs-near infrared spectroscopy-is not currently feasible as WISE 0855 is too cold and faint. To characterize this frozen extrasolar world we obtained a 4.5-5.2 micrometers spectrum, the same bandpass long used to study Jupiter's deep thermal emission. Our spectrum reveals the presence of atmospheric water vapor and clouds, with an absorption profile that is strikingly similar to Jupiter. The spectrum is high enough quality to allow the investigation of dynamical and chemical processes that have long been studied in Jupiter's atmosphere, but this time on an extrasolar world.

brown dwarfs↗

Analysis of Summer-Time Ozone and Precursor Species in the Southeast United States

Ozone (O3) is a greenhouse gas and toxic pollutant which plays a major role in air quality and atmospheric chemistry. The understanding and ability to model the horizontal and vertical structure of O3 mixing ratios is difficult due to the complex formation/destruction processes and transport pathways that cause large variability of O3. The Environmental Protection Agency has National Ambient Air Quality Standards for O3 set at 75 ppb with future standards proposed to be as low as 65 ppb. These lower values emphasize the need to better understand/simulate the transport processes, emission sources, and chemical processes controlling precursor species (e.g., NOx, VOCs, and CO) which influence O3 mixing ratios. The uncertainty of these controlling variables is particularly large in the southeast United States (US) which is a region impacted by multiple different emission sources of precursor species (anthropogenic and biogenic) and transport processes resulting in complex spatio-temporal O3 patterns. During this work we will evaluate O3 and precursor species in the southeast US applying models, ground-based and airborne in situ data, and lidar observations. In the summer of 2013, the UAH O3 Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) (part of the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet)) measured vertical O3 profiles from the surface up to approximately 12 km. During this period, the lidar observed numerous periods of dynamic temporal and vertical O3 structures. In order to determine the sources/processes impacting these O3 mixing ratios we will apply the CTM GEOS-Chem (v9-02) at a 0.25 deg x 0.3125 deg resolution. Using in situ ground-based (e.g., SEARCH Network, CASTNET), airborne (e.g., NOAA WP-3D - SENEX 2013, DC-8 - SEAC4RS), and TOLNet lidar data we will first evaluate the model to determine the capability of GEOS-Chem to simulate the spatio-temporal variability of O3 in the southeast US. Secondly, we will perform model sensitivity studies in order to quantify which emission sources (e.g., anthropogenic, biogenic, lighting, wildfire) and transport processes (e.g., stratospheric, long-range, local scale) are contributing to these TOLNet-observed dynamic O3 patterns. Results from the evaluation of the model and the study of sources/processes impacting observed O3 mixing ratios will be presented.

Optical Radar↗

FASTER -- A Tool for DSN Forecasting and Scheduling

FASTER (Forecasting And Scheduling Tool for Earth-based Resources) is a suite of tools designed for forecasting and scheduling of JPL's DSN. The DSN is a set of antennas and other associated resources that must be scheduled for satellite communications, astronomy, maintenance, and testing. FASTER is a MS-Windows based program that replaces two existing programs (RALPH and PC4CAST). FASTER was designed to be more flexible, maintainable, and user friendly. FASTER makes heavy use of commercial software to allow for customization by users. FASTER implements scheduling as a two pass process: the first pass calculates a predictive profile of resource utilization; the second pass uses this information to calculate a cost function used in a dynamic programming optimization step. This information allows the scheduler to "look ahead" at activities that are not as yet scheduled. FASTER has succeeded in allowing wider access to data and tools, reducing the amount of effort expended and increasing the quality of analysis.

forecasting↗

Annual and Semiannual Oscillations of Thermospheric Composition in TIMED/GUVI Limb Measurements

The Global UltraViolet Imager (GUVI) onboard the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite provides a data set of vertical thermospheric composition (O, N2, and O2 densities) and temperature profiles from 2002–2007. Even though GUVI sampling is limited by orbital constraint, we demonstrated that the GUVI data set can be used to derive the altitude profiles of the amplitudes and phases of annual oscillation (AO) and semiannual oscillation (SAO), thereby providing important constraints on models seeking to explain these features. We performed a seasonal and interannual analysis of GUVI limb O, O2, and N2 densities and volume number density ratio O/N2 at constant pressure levels. These daytime observations of O and O/N2 in the lower thermosphere show a strong AO at midlatitudes and a clear SAO at lower latitudes. The global mean GUVI O/N2 number density ratio shows the AO, with slightly larger values in January than in July and a SAO with O/N2 greater during equinoxes than at the solstices. O and N2 densities on fixed pressure levels in the upper thermosphere are anticorrelated with solar extreme ultraviolet flux. On the other hand, O/N2 is smaller during solar minimum and larger during solar maximum. The thermospheric AO and SAO in composition have a constant phase with altitude throughout the thermosphere.

thermosphere composition↗

CALIGOLA: A New Spaceborne Lidar Mission

Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) and NASA are partnering on an exciting new spaceborne lidar mission known as CALIGOLA (i.e., the Cloud and Aerosol Lidar for Global Scale observations of the Ocean-Land-Atmosphere) that seeks to significantly advance our understanding of Earth’s coupled ocean-land-atmosphere systems. By flying an innovative multi-wavelength, polarization-sensitive Raman lidar that will simultaneously acquire elastic backscatter and fluorescence measurements, CALIGOLA will provide new insights into the processes that influence climate, weather, and air quality by vertically profiling microphysical and optical properties of clouds and aerosols. The mission will also probe phytoplankton biomass and zooplankton dynamics and provide observations of surface vegetation, ice, and snow. The mission is planned for launch early next decade and baselined to fly in an orbit that is compatible with NASA’s AOS-Sky mission. This formation flying configuration will enable synergistic retrievals between observations from CALIGOLA and the polarimeter and radar measurements planned for AOS-Sky and thus greatly enhance our ability to explore and characterize the intricate processes that govern the interactions between different components of the Earth system. The presentation will highlight CALIGOLA’s significant science objectives and describe the pioneering instrument that will enable us to achieve these objectives.

Chip Trepte↗

Calorimeter Heat Flux Trends in NASA’s Subscale Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine

A calorimeter-style rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) outer chamber body was designed, additively manufactured in GRCop-42, and hot-fire tested in test cell 105 at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, AL in August 2024. Steady-state, spatially resolved heat flux and chamber pressure were measured at 13 and 9 locations from the injector face, respectively, for a variety of test conditions and hardware configurations with gaseous methane and oxygen propellants. The 2-in. diameter highly instrumented design, enabled by metal additive manufacturing (AM), allowed for simultaneous measurement of heat flux and chamber pressure through 44 long duration hot-fire tests without failure. Of the 44 tests, only 3 of the tests featured chamber pressures below 100 psia and are discussed in this work. Heat flux trends for this subscale hardware are explored with respect to local propellant mass flux for several different injectors, chamber lengths, and chamber “subsonic” area ratios (contraction ratios). Results show that for increasing chamber pressure, a reduced amount of energy per kilogram of propellant is transferred to the wall. Switching injectors affects the near-face heat flux and chamber pressure profiles. Chamber length does not noticeably affect the heat flux profile but increases bulk heat load. A subsonic area ratio greater than 1 reduces heat losses to the wall compared to a straight annulus case. Equivalence ratio shift did not significantly affect heat flux. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and conjugate heat transfer (CHT) analyses were performed to delineate 3-D heat transfer and coolant mass flow maldistribution effects and create a calorimeter transfer function to transform heat flux data and mitigate the profile distortions. Additional CFD/CHT simulations were performed using experimental data as boundary conditions to assess local nucleate boiling propensity during testing and to assess projected hot wall temperatures for future fatigue assessment. Vapor fractions were observed locally for several cases. It is anticipated that this effort will provide a common framework for coolant system design/analysis in calorimeter systems for rocket-based and air-breathing combustors, ensuring greater repeatability in calorimetry measurements across the research community.

Joseph Hernandez-McCloskey↗

Additive Manufacture of Multi-Functional, Large-Scale Components

The poster summarizes the main results for a LDRD focused on developing a arc-based additive manufacturing (AM) system capable of fabricating large components with a composition gradient otherwise known as functionally graded materials (FGMs). FGMs are capable of addressing local extreme conditions in an optimal and cost-effective manner. The AM system (referred to as multi-Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing or m-WAAM) consisted of modifying a standard automated gas tungsten arc welding system to deliver multiple welding wires to the weld pool at controlled rates to deposit desired alloy compositions at critical locations. Numerous shapes and composition gradients were fabricated with the system and the effect of various deposition parameters on the nature of the composition profile were evaluated. Additionally, heat treatment of the FGM was performed to develop graded microstructures which should enhance dynamic impact performance of inexpensive steels. The project highlights the potential of m-WAAM to efficiently fabricate FGMs. However, this project only explored the science behind the technique and additional development work will be required to develop a fully-functional system that can build more complex components.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Offshore Wind to Hydrogen - Modeling, Analysis, Testing and International Collaboration Work

This project explores electrolytic hydrogen production from an offshore wind turbine by: Modeling: Simulate an offshore wind turbine and generate power output profiles; Analysis: Analyze offshore conditions and determine operational modes of the stack; Testing: Perform hardware testing to evaluate dynamic characteristics; and International Collaboration Work: Share learnings and publish. Potential Outcomes: Accelerate development of an integrated, in-turbine offshore wind hydrogen system; and Support two DOE Energy Earthshots - Hydrogen and Floating Offshore Wind.

electrolyzer↗

Demonstrating the Potential of Adaptive LMS Filtering on FPGA-Based Qubit Control Platforms for Improved Qubit Readout in 2D and 3D Quantum Processing Units

Advancements in quantum computing underscore the critical need for sophisticated qubit readout techniques to accurately discern quantum states. This abstract presents our research intended for optimizing readout pulse fidelity for 2D and 3D Quantum Processing Units (QPUs), the latter coupled with Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavities. Focusing specifically on the application of the Least Mean Squares (LMS) adaptive filtering algorithm, we explore its integration into the FPGA-based control systems to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of qubit state detection by improving Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). Implementing the LMS algorithm on the Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC Gen 3 devices (RFSoC 4x2 FPGA and ZCU216 FPGA) using the Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit (QICK) open-source platform, we aim to dynamically test and adjust the filtering parameters in real-time to characterize and adapt to the noise profile presented in quantum computing readout signals. Our preliminary results demonstrate the LMS filter's capability to maintain high readout accuracy while efficiently managing FPGA resources. These findings are expected to contribute to developing more reliable and scalable quantum computing architectures, highlighting the pivotal role of adaptive signal processing in quantum technology advancements.

Johnson, Hans↗

SU-G-TeP4-15: The Roucoulette: A Set of Quality Control Tests for Dynamic Trajectory (4Pi) Treatment Delivery Techniques

Purpose: To present and validate a set of quality control tests for trajectory treatment delivery using synchronized dynamic couch (translation and rotation), MLC and collimator motion. Methods: The quality control tests are based on the Picket fence test, which consist of 5 narrow band 2mm width spaced at 2.5cm intervals, and adds progressively synchronized dynamic motions. The tests were exposed on GafChromic EBT3 films. The first test is a regular (no motion and MLC static while beam is on) Picket Fence test used as baseline. The second test includes simultaneous collimator and couch rotation, each stripe corresponding to a different rotation speed. Errors in these tests were introduced (0.5 degree and 1 degree error in rotation synchronization) to assess the error sensitivity of this test. The second test is similar to the regular Picket Fence but now including dynamic MLC motion and couch translation (including acceleration during delivery) while the beam is on. Finally in the third test, which is a combination of the first and second test, the Picket Fence pattern is delivered using synchronized collimator and couch rotation and synchronized dynamic MLC and couch translation including acceleration. Films were analyzed with FilmQA Pro. Results: The distance between the peaks in the dose profile where measured (18.5cm away from the isocentre in the inplane direction where non synchronized rotation would have the largest effect) and compared to the regular Picket Fence tests. For well synchronized motions distances between peaks where between 24.9–25.4 mm identical to the regular Picket Fence test. This range increased to 24.4–26.4mm and 23.4–26.4mm for 0.5 degree and 1 degree error respectively. The amplitude also decreased up to 15% when errors are introduced. Conclusion: We demonstrated that the Roucoulette tests can be used as a quality control tests for trajectory treatment delivery using synchronized dynamic motion.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

The Onset of Nucleate Boiling Prediction in a Mini Channel with the Eulerian Multiphase Flow

The prediction of boiling incipience is a critical issue for a reactor. Vapor lock causes operating instability and undesirable temperature rise, especially for small channels. This study uses the Eulerian multiphase flow boiling model to predict the onset of nucleate boiling in a millimeter scale rectangular channel. Two wall boiling models, namely the RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and the non-equilibrium sub cooled model are applied. Computational fluid dynamics is employed for this study to investigate the impact of operating conditions like liquid flow rate, operating pressure, heat flux, velocity profile, turbulence model, and inlet liquid temperature. Here, the effect of fundamental boiling parameters on the surface wall temperature and vapor volume fraction is also studied. The parameters under consideration are the bubble departure diameter, bubble departure frequency, nucleate site density, quenching time period, and interface heat transfer coefficients. A series of CFD calculations is conducted by varying the considered variables systematically in a wide range of flow conditions covering laminar, transition, and turbulent flows. The sub-component heat fluxes like the liquid convective, the vapor convective, the evaporative, and the quenching terms are monitored to infer the boiling dynamics in the transition region from the single-phase flow to the nucleate boiling zone. It is found that the CFD approach to detecting the boiling incipience point agrees reasonably with available experimental data. However, its limitations, like inaccuracy for lower flow rates and early transition to boiling flow, are also noticed due to the nature of the considered RPI model.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Liquid-based gating mechanism with tunable multiphase selectivity and antifouling behaviour

Living organisms make extensive use of micro- and nanometre-sized pores as gatekeepers for controlling the movement of fluids, vapours and solids between complex environments. The ability of such pores to coordinate multiphase transport, in a highly selective and subtly triggered fashion and without clogging, has inspired interest in synthetic gated pores for applications ranging from fluid processing to 3D printing and lab-on-chip systems(1-10). But although specific gating and transport behaviours have been realized by precisely tailoring pore surface chemistries and pore geometries(6,11-17), a single system capable of controlling complex, selective multiphase transport has remained a distant prospect, and fouling is nearly inevitable(11,12). Here we introduce a gating mechanism that uses a capillary-stabilized liquid as a reversible, reconfigurable gate that fills and seals pores in the closed state, and creates a non-fouling, liquid-lined pore in the open state. Theoretical modelling and experiments demonstrate that for each transport substance, the gating threshold-the pressure needed to open the pores-can be rationally tuned over a wide pressure range. This enables us to realize in one system differential response profiles for a variety of liquids and gases, even letting liquids flow through the pore while preventing gas from escaping. These capabilities allow us to dynamically modulate gas-liquid sorting in a microfluidic flow and to separate a three-phase air-water-oil mixture, with the liquid lining ensuring sustained antifouling behaviour. Because the liquid gating strategy enables efficient long-term operation and can be applied to a variety of pore structures and membrane materials, and to micro- as well as macroscale fluid systems, we expect it to prove useful in a wide range of applications.

Hou, X↗

Separating Dynamic and Thermodynamic Impacts of Climate Change on Daytime Convective Development over Land

Climate change affects the dynamics and thermodynamics of moist convection. Changes in the dynamics concern, for instance, an increase of convection strength due to increases of convective available potential energy (CAPE). Thermodynamics involve increases in water vapor that the warmer atmosphere can hold and convection can work with. Small-scale simulations are conducted to separate these two components for daytime development of unorganized convection over land. The simulations apply a novel modeling technique referred to as the piggybacking (or master–slave) approach and consider the global climate model (GCM)-predicted change of atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles in the Amazon region at the end of the century under a business-as-usual scenario. The simulations show that the dynamic impact dominates because changes in cloudiness and rainfall come from cloud dynamics considerations, such as the change in CAPE and convective inhibition (CIN) combined with the impact of environmental relative humidity (RH) on deep convection. The small RH reduction between the current and future climate significantly affects the mean surface rain accumulation as it changes from a small reduction to a small increase when the RH decrease is eliminated. The thermodynamic impact on cloudiness and precipitation is generally small, with the extreme rainfall intensifying much less than expected from an atmospheric moisture increase. These results are discussed in the context of previous studies concerning climate change–induced modifications of moist convection. Future research directions applying the piggybacking method are discussed.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Halted-pendulum Relaxation: Application to White Dwarf Binary Initial Data

Studying compact-star binaries and their mergers is integral to determining progenitors for observable transients. Today, compact-star mergers are typically studied via state-of-the-art computational fluid dynamics codes. One such numerical technique, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), is frequently chosen for its excellent mass, energy, and momentum conservation. The natural treatment of vacuum and the ability to represent highly irregular morphologies make SPH an excellent tool for the study of compact-star binaries and mergers. For many scenarios, including binary systems, the outcome of simulations is only as accurate as the initial conditions. For SPH, it is essential to ensure that the particles are distributed regularly, representing the initial density profile but without long-range correlations. Particle noise in the form of high-frequency local motion and low-frequency global dynamics must be damped out. Damping the latter can be as computationally intensive as the actual simulation. We discuss a new and straightforward relaxation method, halted-pendulum relaxation (HPR), to remove global oscillation modes of SPH particle configurations. In combination with effective external potentials representing gravitational and orbital forces, we show that HPR has an excellent performance in efficiently relaxing SPH particles to the desired density distribution and removing global oscillation modes. We compare the method to frequently used relaxation approaches and test it on a white dwarf binary model at its Roche-lobe overflow limit. We highlight the importance of our method in achieving accurate initial conditions and its effect on achieving circular orbits and realistic accretion rates when compared with other general relaxation methods.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Radiocarbon constraints imply reduced carbon uptake by soils during the 21st century

Soil is the largest terrestrial carbon reservoir and may influence the sign and magnitude of carbon cycle-climate feedbacks. Many Earth system models (ESMs) estimate a significant soil carbon sink by 2100, yet the underlying carbon dynamics determining this response have not been systematically tested against observations. For this research, we used 14 C data from 157 globally distributed soil profiles sampled to 1-meter depth to show that ESMs underestimated the mean age of soil carbon by a factor of more than six (430 ± 50 years versus 3100 ± 1800 years). Consequently, ESMs overestimated the arbon sequestration potential of soils by a factor of nearly two (40 ± 27%). Finally, these inconsistencies suggest that ESMs must better represent carbon stabilization processes and the turnover time of slow and passive reservoirs when simulating future atmospheric carbon dioxide dynamics.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Contributions of immunoaffinity chromatography to deep proteome profiling of human biofluids

Human biofluids, especially blood plasma or serum, hold great potential as the sources of potential biomarkers for various diseases; however, the enormous dynamic range of protein concentrations in biofluids represents a significant analytical challenge to detect promising low-abundance protein biomarkers. Over the last decade, various immunoaffinity chromatographic methods have been developed and routinely applied for separating low-abundance proteins from the high and moderate-abundance proteins, thus enabling more effective detection of low-abundance proteins. Herein, we review the advances of immunoaffinity separation methods and their contributions to the proteomics applications of different human biofluids. The limitations and future perspective of immunoaffinity separation methods are also discussed.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗

Molecular Dynamics Study of Fe(II) Adsorption, Electron Exchange, and Mobility at Goethite (α-FeOOH) Surfaces

We present classical molecular simulations of the adsorption free energy profiles for the aqueous Fe(II) ion approaching key low index crystal faces of goethite at neutral surface charge conditions. Calculated profiles show minima corresponding to stable outer- and inner-sphere adsorbed structures. We analyzed the energetics and kinetics of most possible interfacial electron transfer reactions, as well as analyzing the same for subsurface migration pathways of injected electrons through calculating the Marcus free energy surfaces. We conclude that inner-sphere Fe(II)-complex formation is required for the interfacial electron transfer to occur, but the energetic cost of moving from the outer-sphere to inner-sphere geometry may prevent electron injection at some faces. We also show that some surfaces, especially (101), (100) and (001), are more energetically prone toward reduction than others. We demonstrate that subsurface charge migration in directions parallel to the surface, which run along the iron chains, is more energetically plausible than conduction through the resistive crystal bulk phase. Collectively this leads to the conclusion that Fe(II)-catalyzed recrystallization of goethite most likely proceeds by short path length electron migration through specific goethite surfaces along specific directions, until capture at Fe sites structurally susceptible to reduction and release.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗