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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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At least 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Molecular diversity of dissolved organic matter reflects macroecological patterns in river networks

Deciphering dissolved organic matter (DOM) molecular complexity is crucial for understanding ecosystem function. Using the continental-scale Worldwide Hydrobiogeochemistry Observation Network for Dynamic Rivers Systems (WHONDRS) Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) dataset, we reveal fundamental scaling patterns of DOM chemodiversity with watershed characteristics. Analysis of 54 river sites shows local and regional watershed features significantly influence DOM chemodiversity (2500–8718 unique formulae), exhibiting consistent scaling patterns across compound classes and a novel latitudinal gradient (decreasing diversity with increasing latitude). Scaling relationships for DOM composition vary by compound class. Crucially, the scaling parameters (B, baseline chemodiversity; Z, sensitivity) are linearly interrelated. This B–Z relationship is most robust for potentially bio-labile carbohydrates (coefficient of determination R 2 ≈ 0.85), diminishing for recalcitrant, plant-derived molecules (such as lignin), and indicates (potential) biolability-dependent coupling between baseline diversity and environmental responsiveness. These quantitative scaling relationships, with scaling exponents ranging from − 2.1 to 2.2 across compound classes, enable prediction of DOM composition across watersheds, offering a framework to understand ecosystem responses to environmental change. This research bridges biogeochemistry and ecology, providing tools to anticipate molecular transformations across scales.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2012

A Miniaturized Laser Heterodyne Radiometer for a Global Ground-Based Column Carbon Monitoring Network

We present progress in the development of a passive, miniaturized Laser Heterodyne Radiometer (mini-LHR) that will measure key greenhouse gases (C02, CH4, CO) in the atmospheric column as well as their respective altitude profiles, and O2 for a measure of atmospheric pressure. Laser heterodyne radiometry is a spectroscopic method that borrows from radio receiver technology. In this technique, a weak incoming signal containing information of interest is mixed with a stronger signal (local oscillator) at a nearby frequency. In this case, the weak signal is sunlight that has undergone absorption by a trace gas of interest and the local oscillator is a distributive feedback (DFB) laser that is tuned to a wavelength near the absorption feature of the trace gas. Mixing the sunlight with the laser light, in a fast photoreceiver, results in a beat signal in the RF. The amplitude of the beat signal tracks the concentration of the trace gas in the atmospheric column. The mini-LHR operates in tandem with AERONET, a global network of more than 450 aerosol sensing instruments. This partnership simplifies the instrument design and provides an established global network into which the mini-LHR can rapidly expand. This network offers coverage in key arctic regions (not covered by OCO-2) where accelerated warming due to the release of CO2 and CH4 from thawing tundra and permafrost is a concern as well as an uninterrupted data record that will both bridge gaps in data sets and offer validation for key flight missions such as OCO-2, OCO-3, and ASCENDS. Currently, the only ground global network that routinely measures multiple greenhouse gases in the atmospheric column is TCCON (Total Column Carbon Observing Network) with 18 operational sites worldwide and two in the US. Cost and size of TCCON installations will limit the potential for expansion, We offer a low-cost $30Klunit) solution to supplement these measurements with the added benefit of an established aerosol optical depth measurement. Aerosols induce a radiative effect that is an important modulator of regional carbon cycles. Changes in the diffuse radiative flux fraction (DRF) due to aerosol loading have the potential to alter the terrestrial carbon exchange.

Wilson, Emily L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Comparison of Satellite Observations of Aerosol Optical Depth to Surface Monitor Fine Particle Concentration

Under NASA's Earth Science Applications Program, the Infusing satellite Data into Environmental Applications (IDEA) project examined the relationship between satellite observations and surface monitors of air pollutants to facilitate a more capable and integrated observing network. This report provides a comparison of satellite aerosol optical depth to surface monitor fine particle concentration observations for the month of September 2003 at more than 300 individual locations in the continental US. During September 2003, IDEA provided prototype, near real-time data-fusion products to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directed toward improving the accuracy of EPA s next-day Air Quality Index (AQI) forecasts. Researchers from NASA Langley Research Center and EPA used data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument combined with EPA ground network data to create a NASA-data-enhanced Forecast Tool. Air quality forecasters used this tool to prepare their forecasts of particle pollution, or particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5), for the next-day AQI. The archived data provide a rich resource for further studies and analysis. The IDEA project uses data sets and models developed for tropospheric chemistry research to assist federal, state, and local agencies in making decisions concerning air quality management to protect public health.

Kleb, Mary M.↗
NASA NTRS2011

GCN and SONG and Interactions with Other Instruments

I will give a brief description of Gamma-ray burst Coordinates Network (GCN) (distribution methods, filtering criteria, etc) plus the types of notices currently being distributed (GRBs, transients, & monitoring). Then cover how Stellar Observations Network Group (SONG) telescopes could make use of these notice types to fill in some of their observing time. I will then make a pitch to get SONG telescopes to contribute those data products that are consistant with the real-time transient aspects of GCN.

Barthelmy, Scott↗
NASA NTRS1983

Low-level microburst wind structure using Doppler radar and PAM data

The Joint Airport Weather Studies (JAWS) observation network used at an airport in Denver, CO consisted of one S-band and two C-band radars, together with 27 Portable Automated Mesonet (PAM) stations. Each of the three microburst case studies observed during the JAWS experiment occurred within the surface PAM network, and these surface data were compared with the radar analyses. It emerges that if microburst vertical motions are to be accurately resolved, the spacing of the surface stations must be considerably less than 4 km.

Kessinger, C.↗
NASA NTRS2012

The Second Phase of the Global Land Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (GLACE-2): Impact of Land Initialization on Subseasonal Forecasts

The recently-completed second phase of the Global Land-Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (GLACE-2) focused on quantifying, for boreal summer, the subseasonal (out to two months) forecast skill for precipitation and air temperature that can be derived from the realistic initialization of land surface states, notably soil moisture. An overview of the multi-institutional numerical experiment is described, along with a determination and characterization of multi-model "consensus" skill. The models show modest but significant land-derived skill in predicting air temperatures out to two months, especially where the rain gauge network is dense. Given that precipitation is the chief driver of soil moisture, and thereby assuming that rain gauge density is a reasonable proxy for the adequacy of the observational network contributing to soil moisture initialization, this result indeed highlights the potential contribution of enhanced observations to prediction. Land-derived precipitation forecast skill is much weaker than that for air temperature. The skill for predicting air temperature, and to some extent precipitation, increases with the magnitude of the initial soil moisture anomaly. GLACE-2 results are examined further to provide insight into the asymmetric impacts of wet and dry soil moisture initialization on skill.

Koster, Randal↗
DOE OSTI2025

Changes in the Regional Water Cycle and Their Impact on Societies

ABSTRACT Changes in “blue water”, which is the total supply of fresh water available for human extraction over land, are quite closely related to changes in runoff or equivalently precipitation minus evaporation, . This article examines how climate change‐driven recent past and future changes in the regional water cycle relate to blue water availability and changes in human blue water demand. Although at the largest scales theoretical and numerical model predictions are in broad agreement with observations, at continental scales and below models predict large ranges of possible future and runoff especially at the scale of individual river catchments and for shorter timescale subseasonal floods and droughts. Nevertheless, it is expected that the occurrence and severity of floods will increase and that of droughts may increase, possibly compounded by human‐driven non‐climatic changes such as changes in land use, dam water impoundment, irrigation and extraction of groundwater. Contemporary assessments predict that increases in 21st century human water extraction in many highly‐populated regions are unlikely to be sustainable given projections of future . To reduce uncertainty in future predictions, there is an urgent need to improve modeling of atmospheric, land surface and human processes and how these components are coupled. This should be supported by maintaining the observing network and expanding it to improve measurements of land surface, oceanic and atmospheric variables. This includes the development of satellite observations stable over multiple decades and suitable for building reanalysis datasets appropriate for model evaluation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2019

Terrestrial Water Storage

Terrestrial water storage can be defined as the summation of all water on the land surface and in the subsurface. It includes surface soil moisture, root zone soil moisture, groundwater, snow,ice, water stored in the vegetation, river and lake water. Terrestrial water storage (TWS) changes have been observed by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission since 2002. GRACE has provided an unprecedented view of the terrestrial water storage variations at large scales. Extremes in water storage often are associated with droughts and flooding events because they are driven by the surplus or deficit of water. Few hydrologic observing networks yield sufficient data for comprehensive monitoring of changes in the total amount of water stored in a region. GRACE observations have helped to fill this gap. This book chapter is divided into 4 sections.Section 1 provides an overview of the GRACE mission. Section 2 reviews the terrestrial water storage solutions that are available. Section 3 describes regional to global applications of GRACE for monitoring extremes in the terrestrial water storage, including droughts and flooding events. Conclusions and future directions are reported in Section 4.

Terrestrial Water Storage↗
NASA NTRS2002

Non-Spherical Aerosol Phase Functions Derived from MODIS and AERONET Observations

We compare MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite aerosol retrievals of spectral optical thickness and size parameters over ocean with the same quantities derived from AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) observations made at island and coastal sites. Over much of the globe, the satellite-derived quantities agree well with the AERONET quantities. However, in regimes dominated by desert dust aerosol, the agreement is less robust. In the dust regimes, the MODIS retrievals show greater spectral dependence and report smaller particle sizes than do the AERONET derivations. We suggest that the reason for this discrepancy is the nonspherical nature of desert dust particles, which the initial MODIS algorithm is not able to handle. Using the discrepancy between MODIS and AERONET derived spectral optical thickness as an asset, instead of a detriment, we reconstruct the aerosol phase functions that the MODIS algorithm would have needed in order to match the AERONET retrievals. No assumptions of particle shape are used in the derivation of these functions and the results are empirical total column, ambient phase functions. We compare the empirically derived phase functions with phase functions calculated from spheres and spheroids, both situations in which assumptions about particle shape must be made. The resulting empirical nonspherical phase functions will be included in future updates of the MODIS algorithm.

Remer, L. A.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Development of specifications for surface and subsurface oceanic environmental data

The existing need for synoptic subsurface observations was demonstrated giving special attention to the requirements of meteorology. The current state of synoptic oceanographic observations was assessed; a preliminary design for the Basic Observational Network needed to fulfill the minimum needs of synoptic meteorology and oceanography was presented. There is an existing critical need for such a network in the support of atmospheric modeling and operational meteorological prediction, and through utilization of the regional water mass concept an adequate observational system can be designed which is realistic in terms of cost and effort.

Wolff, P. M.↗
NASA NTRS2021

The Effect of Missing Groups in the Calculation of the Solar Irradiance Deficit: Analysis of the Sunspot Areas from the SOON Network

Sunspot areas are one of the most important indices of solar activity. To obtain an extended time series covering multiple solar cycles one must combine data from different observatories after a proper comparison and calibration of the individual data sets. We compare the daily and group values of sunspot areas provided by the different stations from the Solar Optical Observing Network, SOON, which are determined using similar instruments and techniques. We investigate if there are systematic differences among the stations and whether the differences in the daily values can be attributed to missing groups in the records or errors in the measurements. We find significant differences among the stations of the SOON network in terms of sizes (average daily and group values), quality of observations and coverage (considering number of missing groups and data gaps). Our results indicate that calibration factors for daily values can be used with confidence to combine data sets from different stations. However, for some applications which require the location of the sunspot groups the same correction factors should not be used. We estimate the irradiance deficit due to sunspot through the Photometric Sunspot Index and compare the output from similar data sets to quantify the effect of missing groups. We find differences as high as 150 ppm during the maximum of solar cycle. The effect increases for sunspot groups near the center of the disk accounting for about 80% of the observed differences.

Luis Leuzzi↗
NASA NTRS1987

Radio structure in the inner 1 arcsecond of NGC 1068

High-resolution VLA and VLBI observations of NGC 1068 at several different wavelengths are reported. These observations provide new information about the triple radio source in the central arcsec (75 pc) of the galaxy. The 21-cm European VLBI Network observations at 0.05-arcsec resolution detect a core of flux density 89 + or - 10 mJy. This core is dominated by a component less than 20 marcsec (1.5 pc) in diameter that has a brightness temperature of about 10 to the 8th K. Two more components may have been detected by the VLBI observations, one on either side of the compact core. At 0.07-arcsec resolution, the 1.3-cm VLA map of the central arcsec of NGC 1068 reveals a C-shaped radio morphology on scales from 10 to 50 pc. A comparison of the relative locations of the three components in the VLA and VLBI maps shows that the compact core in the VLBI map probably should be identified with the central component in the 1.3- and 2-cm VLA maps. If this identification is correct, the central component in the VLA maps is the actual nucleus of the galaxy. The core of the inner triple radio source may contain a significant flat-spectrum component. The presence of a compact core and the evidence for bending strengthen the argument that the inner triple radio source is produced by a mechanism similar to that operating in powerful radio galaxies. For a minimum-energy configuration, magnetic-field strengths of about 1 mG and energy densities of about 100 nerg/cu cm are found for the components of this source.

Ulvestad, James S.↗
NASA NTRS1980

ORION S-band data acquisition for S-Y calibration

Error sources in the Operational Radio Interferometry Observing Network (ORION) are addressed. Specifically, the performance of the S-band receiver and the optimum allocation of data volume between S- and X-band observations is studied. It is found that the requirements on the S-band receiver are not very stringent. The system temperature of the ORION S-band receiver has a very small effect on baseline determination accuracy. It is unwise to pay a high cost for an S-band receiver with a low system temperature; a system temperature as high as 240 K is tolerable. Only 20 to 40 percent of data volume is to be allocated to S-band observations for minimum baseline error. The error remains low over a rather wide range of data volume ratio. Hence precise allocation of the 14 pairs of the Mark 3 very long base interferometer data channels between S- and X-band observations is not critical.

Wu, S. C.↗
NASA NTRS2019

A Suite of High-Resolution Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Simulations in Support of the OCO-3 Snapshot Area Mapping (SAM) Mode Observation: PSU-WRF, CSU-OLAM and NASA GEOS

Cities and power plants are responsible more than 70% of GHG emissions. The emissions from the subnational localized sources need to be accurately quantified and properly managed in order to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement goals. The accurate estimation of these emission is also crucial for assessing the capacity of natural sinks to uptake the carbon released into the atmosphere that ultimately defines our emission allowance for the 1.5 or 2.0 degree temperature goals. New data collected by the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (OCO-3) Snapshot Area Mapping (SAM) observations should provide a tremendous new opportunity for us to study CO2 emissions from targeted large localized sources, such as cities, power plants and beyond. Since 2018 (prior to the OCO-3 launch), we have studied the observational strategies for the SAM mode observation in order to collect the useful data for estimating CO2 emissions from target sources. To maximize the benefit of the SAM mode observation data for quantifying CO2 emission, it is important to define how to observe the localized sources depending on the local environmental and emission specificities. We employ a suite of state-of-the-art CO2 modeling systems, such as PSU's WRF-CO2, CSU's OLAM and NASA's GEOS models. All of these CO2 modeling systems are prescribedwith the high-resolution fuel CO2 emission estimates from the ODIAC data product to achieve realistic urban CO2 variations. We focus on cities with established ground-based observation networks, such as Los Angeles, Indianapolis, and Paris. We have examined the urban emission signal detectability in response to the influence of local background conditions that can observed by the SAM and biospheric contributions that will be a new challenge for urban emission inverse estimation. Based on the results of our simulation experiments, we plan to propose city-specific observation strategies. Upon the availability of the OCO-3 data, we will attempt to estimate city emissions using inverse models. We also developed synthetic OCO-3 data using NASA's GEOS5 model, which should be useful to assess the utility of the OCO-3 data in combination with data collected by carbon satellites in other orbits, such as NASA's OCO-2 and Japanese GOSAT-1/2. The synthetic data also provide an opportunity to study the errors due to clouds and aerosols, which have been not fully studied in the past.

Oda, Tomohiro↗
NASA NTRS1992

Whole Earth Telescope observations of V471 Tauri - The nature of the white dwarf variations

Time-series photometric observations of the binary star V471 Tauri were conducted using the Whole Earth Telescope observing network. The purpose was to determine the mechanism responsible for causing the 555 and 277 s periodic luminosity variations exhibited by the white dwarf in this binary. Previous observers have proposed that either g-mode pulsations or rotation of an accreting magnetic white dwarf could cause the variations, but were unable to decide which was the correct model. The present observations have answered this question. Learning the cause of the white dwarf variations has been possible because of the discovery of a periodic signal at 562 s in the Johnson U-band flux of the binary. By identifying this signal as reprocessed radiation and using its phase to infer the phase of the shorter wavelength radiation which produces it, made it possible to compare the phase of the 555 s U-band variations to the phase of the X-ray variations. It was found that U-band maximum coincides with X-ray minimum. From this result it was concluded that the magnetic rotator model accurately describes the variations observed, but that models involving g-mode pulsations do not.

Clemens, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Effects of the intense solar activity of March/June 1991 observed in the outer heliosphere

The properties of the large-scale global merged interaction region (GMIR) generated by the intense solar events of March and June 1991 are studied using the available solar wind, interplanetary magnetic field, and energetic particle data from the observing network of Pioneer 10 and Voyagers 1 and 2 in the outer heliosphere. At heliocentric distances extending to 55 AU the delayed effects of this enhanced solar activity are observed in the form of large inceases in the solar wind velocity and interplanetary magnetic field and significant decreases in the galactic cosmic ray intensity. For low-energy ions (5-MeV protons) there was a single long-lived event extending over a period of some 6 months. Near the strongest interplanetary disturbances the H and He spectra are best represented by similar exponentials in momentum/nucleon (i.e., particle velocity at these at these energies). Over the rest of the event the characteristic momentum for He, (P(sub 0))(sub He) is generally approximately 0.66 for hydrogen. These spectra and the consistently low H/He ratio (25.3) at 2 MeV/nucleon closely resemble that observed in corrotating interaction regions events. Despite the strong north/south asymmetry in the solar activity, the interplanetary disturbances produced the same net decrease in the galactic cosmic ray intensity of ions greater than 70 MeV at the three widely separated spacecraft when the effects of the long-term recovery are taken into account. A comparison of the relative intensity of MeV ions at these three spacecraft suggest that the most intense solar events occurred on the back side of the Sun in time periods adjacent to the March and June episodes of solar activity. It is argued that this GMIR as a system is responsible for the low-frequency radio emission observed by the Voyager Plasma Wave experiment some 1.46 years after the onset of the March 1991 activity.

Mcdonald, F. B.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Eliater: a Python package for estimating outcomes of perturbations in biomolecular networks

We introduce Eliater, a Python package for estimating the effect of perturbation of an upstream molecule on a downstream molecule in a biomolecular network. The estimation takes as input a biomolecular network, observational biomolecular data, and a perturbation of interest, and outputs an estimated quantitative effect of the perturbation. We showcase the functionalities of Eliater in a case study of Escherichia coli transcriptional regulatory network.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Organic matter transformations are disconnected between surface water and the hyporheic zone

Abstract. Biochemical transformations of organic matter (OM) are a primary driver of river corridor biogeochemistry, thereby modulating ecosystem processes at local to global scales. OM transformations are driven by diverse biotic and abiotic processes, but we lack knowledge of how the diversity of those processes varies across river corridors and across surface and subsurface components of river corridors. To fill this gap we quantified the number of putative biotic and abiotic transformations of organic molecules across diverse river corridors using ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry. The number of unique transformations is used here as a proxy for the diversity of biochemical processes underlying observed profiles of organic molecules. For this, we use public data spanning the contiguous United States (ConUS) from the Worldwide Hydrobiogeochemical Observation Network for Dynamic River Systems (WHONDRS) consortium. Our results show that surface water OM had more biotic and abiotic transformations than OM from shallow hyporheic zone sediments (1–3 cm depth). We observed substantially more biotic than abiotic transformations, and the numbers of biotic and abiotic transformations were highly correlated with each other. We found no relationship between the number of transformations in surface water and sediments and no meaningful relationships with latitude, longitude, or climate. We also found that the composition of transformations in sediments was not linked with transformation composition in adjacent surface waters. We infer that OM transformations represented in surface water are an integrated signal of diverse processes occurring throughout the upstream catchment. In contrast, OM transformations in sediments likely reflect a narrower range of processes within the sampled volume. This indicates decoupling between the processes influencing surface water and sediment OM, despite the potential for hydrologic exchange to homogenize OM. We infer that the processes influencing OM transformations and the scales at which they operate diverge between surface water and sediments.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗