Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “BOUNDARY LAYER REMOVAL - SUCTION”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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

At least 19 records

Biomass-burning smoke's properties and its interactions with marine stratocumulus clouds in WRF-CAM5 and southeastern Atlantic field campaigns

Abstract. A large part of the uncertainty in climate projections comes from uncertain aerosol properties and aerosol–cloud interactions as well as the difficulty in remotely sensing them. The southeastern Atlantic functions as a natural laboratory to study biomass-burning smoke and to constrain this uncertainty. We address these gaps by comparing the Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry Community Atmosphere Model (WRF-CAM5) to the multi-campaign observations ORACLES (ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS), CLARIFY (CLoud–Aerosol–Radiation Interaction and Forcing), and LASIC (Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds) in the southeastern Atlantic in August 2017 to evaluate a large range of the model's aerosol chemical properties, size distributions, processes, and transport, as well as aerosol–cloud interactions. Overall, while WRF-CAM5 is able to represent smoke properties and transport, some key discrepancies highlight the need for further analysis. Observations of smoke composition show an overall decrease in aerosol mean diameter as smoke ages over 4–12 d, while the model lacks this trend. A decrease in the mass ratio of organic aerosol (OA) to black carbon (BC), OA:BC, and the OA mass to carbon monoxide (CO) mixing ratio, OA:CO, suggests that the model is missing processes that selectively remove OA from the particle phase, such as photolysis and heterogeneous aerosol chemistry. A large (factor of ∼2.5) enhancement in sulfate from the free troposphere (FT) to the boundary layer (BL) in observations is not present in the model, pointing to the importance of properly representing secondary sulfate aerosol formation from marine dimethyl sulfide and gaseous SO2 smoke emissions. The model shows a persistent overprediction of aerosols in the marine boundary layer (MBL), especially for clean conditions, which multiple pieces of evidence link to weaker aerosol removal in the modeled MBL than reality. This evidence includes several model features, such as not representing observed shifts towards smaller aerosol diameters, inaccurate concentration ratios of carbon monoxide and black carbon, underprediction of heavy rain events, and little evidence of persistent biases in modeled entrainment. The average below-cloud aerosol activation fraction (NCLD/NAER) remains relatively constant in WRF-CAM5 between field campaigns (∼0.65), while it decreases substantially in observations from ORACLES (∼0.78) to CLARIFY (∼0.5), which could be due to the model misrepresentation of clean aerosol conditions. WRF-CAM5 also overshoots an observed upper limit on liquid cloud droplet concentration around NCLD= 400–500 cm−3 and overpredicts the spread in NCLD. This could be related to the model often drastically overestimating the strength of boundary layer vertical turbulence by up to a factor of 10. We expect these results to motivate similar evaluations of other modeling systems and promote model development to reduce critical uncertainties in climate simulations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

CAPE-K_ISO: Water vapor isotopic measurements from Western Tasmania

This dataset provides processed 1-minute water vapor isotope observations from the Water Vapor Isotopic Measurements During CAPE-K project at the Kennaook/Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station in northwestern Tasmania. Measurements were made with a Picarro L-2130 cavity ring-down spectroscopy analyzer during the CAPE-K deployment. The dataset includes water vapor mixing ratio, d18O, dD, deuterium excess, and propagated 1-sigma uncertainties. Isotope ratios are calibrated to the VSMOW/SLAP scale. Calibration intervals, transition periods, and obvious isotope outliers have been removed. The processed record spans 11 June 2024 to 15 October 2025 and is intended for studies of Southern Ocean marine boundary-layer moisture, isotope variability, air-sea exchange, and cloud and precipitation processes.

Water Vapor Isotopic Composition↗

Examining Aerosol Vertical Transport and Removal during Deep Convective Events

Atmospheric aerosols affect the global energy budget by scattering and absorbing sunlight (direct effects) and by changing the microphysical structure, lifetime, and coverage of clouds (indirect effects). Globally, the free troposphere is a major source of nucleation- and Aitken-mode aerosols due to the enhanced new particle formation rates at high altitudes. Recent studies have shown deep convective systems are capable of transporting these small aerosols from the free troposphere to the boundary layer by strong convective downdrafts and weaker downward motions in the stratiform regions. These vertically transported aerosols can grow into cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and play a significant role in the global climate. During the deep convective processes, existing accumulation-mode aerosols that act as coagulation sinks of smaller particles are also removed by wet scavenging. Compared to the vertical transport of these particles by entrainment mixing, which is slower but more prevalent, the deep convective downdraft processes may be more rapid and efficient in the vertical transport of aerosols. However, most of the current climate models do not include this mechanism as a source of CCN, mainly because the frequency of deep convective events varies significantly with geographic location and thus their contributions to CCN are unpredictable. We target this critical gap in understanding the vertical transport and removal of aerosols by deep convections. We proposed to analyze a multi-year, multi-site measurement record available from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ARM program, including the observations from the 2014/15 Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon) field campaign, the 2017/18 Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) field campaign, the 2018/19 Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) field campaign, the 2021/22 Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions Experiment (TRACER) field campaign, and the long-term measurements collected at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) atmospheric observatory, where deep convective clouds were frequently observed. This project is aimed at the following three objectives: (1) Gaining a detailed and quantitative understanding of the aerosols transported by a convective downdraft and their evolution in the atmosphere; (2) Examining the wet scavenging mechanisms and efficiencies of aerosols at altitudes of deep convective systems based on ground and aircraft measurements; (3) Evaluating the contribution of deep convective systems to CCN as both a source and a sink of atmospheric aerosols and its seasonal variabilities.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Understanding the Vertical Transport and Removal of Aerosols during Deep Convective Events

Atmospheric aerosols affect the global energy budget by scattering and absorbing sunlight (direct effects) and by changing the microphysical structure, lifetime, and coverage of clouds (indirect effects). Globally, the free troposphere is a major source of nucleation- and Aitken-mode aerosols due to the enhanced new particle formation rates at high altitudes. Recent studies have shown deep convective systems are capable of transporting these small aerosols from the free troposphere to the boundary layer by strong convective downdrafts and weaker downward motions in the stratiform regions. These vertically transported aerosols can grow into cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and play a significant role in the global climate. During the deep convective processes, existing accumulation-mode aerosols that act as coagulation sinks of smaller particles are also removed by wet scavenging. Compared to the vertical transport of these particles by entrainment mixing, which is slower but more prevalent, the deep convective downdraft processes may be more rapid and efficient in the vertical transport of aerosols. However, most of the current climate models do not include this mechanism as a source of CCN, mainly because the frequency of deep convective events varies significantly with geographic location and thus their contributions to CCN are unpredictable.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

New Particle Formation Events Over the Southeast Atlantic Coincide With the African Biomass Burning Season

Abstract We investigated the occurrence and evolution of new particle formation (NPF) events over the southeast Atlantic. The studied region is under the influence of the long‐range transport of aerosols and gases during the southern African biomass burning season, from June to October every year. Interestingly, NPF was observed to coincide with the African biomass burning season, although wet removal of pre‐existing aerosols is needed during these NPF events. Surface and airborne measurements show that these NPF events likely occurred in the upper region of the marine boundary layer, and the newly formed aerosols were further transported to the surface via vertical air motions. Using a box model, we predicted that a large fraction of these particles could grow to sizes related to cloud condensation nuclei. Our study shows that NPF can occur over the southeast Atlantic, and the African biomass‐burning plume likely contributed to the NPF occurrence.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Methods development towards automated, physics-informed, quantitative quality control of TRISO-SiC

Tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles have been developed as a high-performance fuel for use in high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) systems due to their high efficiency and stability under both normal and off-normal conditions. Broader deployment of this technology in advanced nuclear applications may benefit from quantitative quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) methods that directly link TRISO properties to downstream performance. A key TRISO property is the SiC layer microstructure, which influences fission product retention during irradiation. However, existing QA/QC for the TRISO-SiC microstructure comprises only a qualitative visual inspection; therefore, there is a clear opportunity for the development of quantitative methods for TRISO QA/QC. Here, to this end, previous work has demonstrated an image processing approach to grain boundary (GB) identification and subsequent extraction of microstructural metrics; however, extensive twinning within the SiC layer complicates such analyses because twin GBs significantly influence microstructural metrics but are not expected to contribute to fission product transport. This study presents the initial development, training, and testing of an ML-based image segmentation algorithm designed to identify and remove twin GBs from standard backscattered electron micrographs, providing an industrially applicable, quantitative, and physically meaningful QA/QC approach for the TRISO-SiC microstructure. Although pixel-wise performance metrics for the twin predictions are low, the change in grain area and the number of GB pixels after twin removal predicted by the ML workflow are within 1% of the true values calculated using crystallographic data. This suggests that the model is well capable of predicting overall twin boundary structures and grain morphology, and continued advancement of this approach could enable automated, scalable, and physics-informed QA/QC for TRISO-SiC microstructures, supporting the reliable qualification of coated particle fuels for next-generation reactor systems.

Computer vision↗

Automated Segmentation of Twin Boundaries in TRISO Silicon Carbide Using Deep Neural Networks

Coated particle fuels, such as the tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel particle, are essential for high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR) applications due to their efficiency and stability under normal and off-normal conditions. However, widespread commercialization and deployment of this technology for next-generation nuclear applications require robust quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) methods linking fabrication, properties, and performance. Of the many important metrics for TRISO QA/QC, quantification of the silicon carbide (SiC) microstructure is critical because it correlates with fission product retention during irradiation. Previous work has shown extensive twinning of the SiC microstructure, which strongly affects microstructural metrics; however, twin grain boundaries are not expected play a significant role in fission product diffusion. This report summarizes the initial development, training, and testing of a machine learning image processing algorithm to detect twin grain boundaries in a backscattered electron image, which can be removed so that microstructural metrics can be recalculated for legacy data. Further development and deployment of this model will provide automated, scalable improvement of potential QA/QC methods for the SiC layer of TRISO particles.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Aitken Mode Aerosols Buffer Decoupled Mid‐Latitude Boundary Layer Clouds Against Precipitation Depletion

Aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions are a leading source of uncertainty in estimating climate sensitivity. Remote marine boundary layers where accumulation mode (~100–400 nm diameter) aerosol concentrations are relatively low are very susceptible to aerosol changes. These regions also experience heightened Aitken mode aerosol (~10–100 nm) concentrations associated with ocean biology. Aitken aerosols may significantly influence cloud properties and evolution by replenishing cloud condensation nuclei and droplet number lost through precipitation (i.e., Aitken buffering). We use a large-eddy simulation with an Aitken-mode enabled microphysics scheme to examine the role of Aitken buffering in a mid-latitude decoupled boundary layer cloud regime observed on 15 July 2017 during the Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic flight campaign: cumulus rising into stratocumulus under elevated Aitken concentrations (~100–200 mg -1 ). In situ measurements are used to constrain and evaluate this case study. Our simulation accurately captures observed aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions and reveals time-evolving processes driving regime development and evolution. Aitken activation into the accumulation mode in the cumulus layer provides a reservoir for turbulence and convection to carry accumulation aerosols into the drizzling stratocumulus layer above. Further Aitken activation occurs aloft in the stratocumulus layer. Together, these activation events buffer this cloud regime against precipitation removal, reducing cloud break-up and associated increases in heterogeneity. We examine cloud evolution sensitivity to initial aerosol conditions. With halved accumulation number, Aitken aerosols restore accumulation concentrations, maintain droplet number similar to original values, and prevent cloud break-up. Without Aitken aerosols, precipitation-driven cloud break-up occurs rapidly. In this regime, Aitken buffering sustains brighter, more homogeneous clouds for longer.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

IM3 Open Source Data Center Atlas

IM3 Open Source Data Center Atlas Description This dataset contains locations of existing data center facilities in the United States. Data center locations were derived from OpenStreetMap (OSM), a crowd-sourced database. Data points from OSM are processed in various ways to determine additional variables provided in the data including: facility area (square feet), associated US county, and US state. This dataset can be used to identify areas of concentrated data center development and inform government and private sector planning strategies for future buildout of data centers and the infrastructure necessary to support it. Usage Notes Validation of OSM-derived data center locations is an ongoing development under the IM3 project, and the database will be updated as new information becomes available. In some instances, both the data center area (e.g., campus) and individual data center buildings are included as overlapping areas in the database. Both values are retained. Data center points, buildings, and campus areas are provided as separate layers in the downloadable data package. Note that data items are not necessarily complete across layers. That is, a specific data center may only be present as a single point geometry in the "point" layer while other data centers are represented in both the campus and building layers. In some cases, data center campuses and/or buildings straddle a county boundary line. Mappings to both counties are retained in the database as separate rows. These data rows will have the same data center id information, but each will have different county information. Crowd-sourced data, by nature, relies on individuals and communities to provide information. As a result, some data may be missing where it has not yet been reported. As we collect information on additional data center locations and as OSM receives additional contributions, the database will be updated to capture additional data points not yet shown. Data items will occasionally be removed from OSM if they are misidentified, if they no longer exist, if they are duplicates of another item, or similar. For that reason, updated versions of this database may not contain all data center locations included in previous versions. Technical Information Data is available for download under the following formats: GeoPackage (GPKG) CSV Geospatial data is provided in the WGS84 (EPSG:4326) coordinate reference system. The GeoPackage download contains the following layers. See usage notes for more information. "point" "building" "campus" The "point" layer includes all data from OSM that had POINT geometry type (i.e., individual coordinates). The "building" layer includes all OSM data that did not have POINT geometry and where the building tag in the OSM export was neither equal to "no" or null. Data that did not meet the "point" or "building" qualification was assumed to be a facility campus and included in the "campus" layer. The dataset contains the following parameters. Variables provided by OSM are labeled with (OSM-provided). id - unique identification number (OSM-provided with prefix of "node/", "relation/" and similar attributes removed) state - name of US state state_abb - two letter US state abbreviation state_id - state ID number county - name of US county county_id - county ID number ref - reference numbers or codes (OSM-provided) operator - the name of the company, corporation, or person in charge facility (OSM-provided) name - name of facility (OSM-provided) sqft - surface area of facility polygon, measured in square feet. Only available for "building" and "campus" layers lat - latitude of data centroid point lon - longitude of data centroid point type – represented spatial information. One of "point", "building", or "campus". geometry – POLYGON geometry of area footprint (in "campus" and "building" layers) or POINT geometry of locations (in "point" layer). This parameter is not included in the csv download. Attribution Data center locations were derived from OpenStreetMap, which is made available at openstreetmap.org under the Open Database License (ODbL). US state and county boundary information was collected from the US Census Bureau for the year 2024, which is made publicly available at https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files.html Acknowledgment IM3 is a multi-institutional effort led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science as part of research in MultiSector Dynamics, Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling Program. License The IM3 Open Source Data Center Atlas is made available under the Open Database License: http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/. Disclaimer This material was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor the United States Department of Energy, nor the Contractor, nor any or their employees, nor any jurisdiction or organization that has cooperated in the development of these materials, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness or any information, apparatus, product, software, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof, or Battelle Memorial Institute. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORYoperated byBATTELLEfor theUNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGYunder Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830

Mongird, Kendall [Pacific Northwest National Labor↗

Electrochemical-Mechanical Coupling Strongly Affects the Performance of Nanopore, Thin-Film, and Solid-State Batteries

Here, the present study focuses on the electrochemical-mechanical (ECM) coupling effects of a thin-film, solid-state battery with only stiff, ceramic materials, in contrast to prior investigations that focus on individual active material particles or aggregations of particles. We model the impacts of ECM couplings including stress-transport and stress-equilibrium potential on the full-cell performance and potential mechanical failure modes of a thin-film battery conformally deposited in a nanopore scaffold, which is an experimentally achievable device. Model results indicate electrode volume changes due to lithium insertion or removal, along with mechanical boundary conditions, result in stress gradients that alter the lithium-ion flux, reduce lithium concentration gradients, and improve cell rate capability. However, the high stress levels in the cell can also lead to mechanics-related failure such as the separation of cell layers. For the parameter set in this work, stress-transport coupling has a much greater influence on rate capability than stress-potential coupling. Optimization of thin-film batteries to harness the benefits of ECM coupling effects requires leveraging geometric design and material selection. The current work underscores the need for further theoretical and experimental investigation into ECM coupling effects in thin-film batteries to enhance their understanding and design optimization.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

A Multiscale Simulation Study of the Effects of Nantucket Island on Atmospheric Boundary Layer Flow

Multiscale atmospheric simulations were conducted to investigate how Nantucket Island modifies the marine atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flow, how the mechanisms responsible are represented in mesoscale versus large-eddy simulation (LES) domains, and potential impacts on wind energy production downstream, in moderate and high wind speed cases. Here, to isolate the effects of the island, each case study was simulated (i) with and without island topography included and (ii) with observed versus spatially uniform sea surface temperature (SST) values, the latter removing the influence of spatial variability in SST, while also enabling the examination of how the island effects vary with near-surface thermodynamic stability over the surrounding ocean. Island effects were found to be strongest during daytime heating, which generates convective rolls that redistribute momentum vertically over the island and downstream. Colder SSTs and weaker winds strengthen these rolls and extend their influence. Flow statistics within a representative wind turbine rotor-swept area downstream show that while vertical momentum redistribution enhances near-surface wind speeds, those aloft decrease, resulting in minimal net change to rotor-equivalent wind speed and slightly reduced vertical shear. Comparisons of mesoscale and LES domains reveal that both capture the roughness-driven near-surface slowdown, but mesoscale models underestimate vertical momentum transport compared to LES, which explicitly resolves convective rolls. Increasing LES resolution beyond the grid spacing required to begin capturing the largest convective roll structures ∼ O(100) m yields minimal additional momentum transport but increases resolved turbulence kinetic energy, relevant for stress loading.

Atmosphere-land interaction↗

Can We Rely on Satellite Visible/Infrared Microphysical Retrievals of Boundary Layer Clouds in Partially Cloudy Scenes? Implications for Climate Research

This study addresses the longstanding question of the reliability of gridded visible/infrared satellite cloud properties in partially cloudy scenes. By using in-situ cloud probes and airborne Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) observations, we analyze bias changes in satellite retrievals from the Spinning Enhanced Visible Infra-Red Imager (SEVIRI) geostationary sensor during the ORACLES campaign. Biases in cloud optical depth (τ) and droplet effective radius (r e ) modestly change for cloud area fraction greater than 35%. The agreement between SEVIRI and RSP r e substantially improves when the retrievals are averaged after removing pixels with τ < 3.0, yielding biases indistinguishable from overcast scenes. In addition, satellite and RSP show an excellent agreement for closed- and open-cell stratocumulus clouds, showing that the satellite retrievals capture spatial changes of r e , and confirming that satellites can faithfully reproduce real physical features for optically thick and partially cloudy scenes. We demonstrate that a simple methodology can minimize uncertainties in satellite-based climate studies.

Painemal, David [NASA Langley Research Center, Ham↗

Burning conditions and transportation pathways determine biomass-burning aerosol properties in the Ascension Island marine boundary layer

African biomass-burning aerosol (BBA) in the southeast Atlantic Ocean (SEA) marine boundary layer (MBL) is an important contributor to Earth’s radiation budget yet its representation remains poorly constrained in regional and global climate models. Data from the Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds (LASIC) field campaign on Ascension Island (-7.95° N, -14.36° E) detail how fire source regions (burning conditions and fuel type), transport pathways, and longer-term chemical processing affect the chemical, microphysical, and optical properties of the BBA in the remote MBL between June and September of 2017. Ten individual plume events characterize the seasonal evolution of BBA characteristics. Inefficient burning conditions, determined by the mass ratio of refractory black carbon to above-background carbon monoxide (rBC:ΔCO), enhance organic- and sulfate-rich aerosol concentrations in June–July. In contrast, the heart of the burning season exhibited higher rBC:ΔCO values indicative of efficient burning conditions, correlating with more rBC-enriched BBA. Toward the end of the burning season, a mix of burning conditions results in increased variation of the BBA properties. The BBA transit to Ascension Island was predominantly through slow-moving pathways in the MBL and lower free troposphere (FT), facilitating prolonged chemical transformations through heterogeneous and aqueous phase processes. Heterogeneous oxidation can persist for up to 10 days, resulting in a considerable decrease in organic aerosol (OA) mass. OA to rBC mass ratios (OA:rBC) in the MBL between 2 and 5 contrast to higher values of 5 to 15 observed in the nearby FT. Conversely, early-season aqueous-phase processes primarily contributed to aerosol oxidation and some aerosol production, but not appreciable aerosol removal. These two chemical processes yield more light-absorbing BBA in the MBL than in the FT and explain the notably low scattering albedo at 530 nm (SSA 530 ) values (< 0.80) at Ascension Island. This study establishes a robust correlation between SSA 530 and OA:rBC across both MBL and FT, underscoring the dependency of optical properties on chemical composition. These findings highlight how the interplay between chemical composition and atmospheric processing can be improved in global and regional climate models. Questions remain on the mixing of aerosols with different pathway histories, and on what accounts for the doubling of the mass absorption coefficient in the boundary layer.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Low-temperature Leidenfrost-like jumping of sessile droplets on microstructured surfaces

The Leidenfrost effect—the levitation and hovering of liquid droplets on hot solid surfaces—generally requires a sufficiently high substrate temperature to activate liquid vaporization. Here, in this paper, we report the modulation of Leidenfrost-like jumping of sessile water microdroplets on micropillared surfaces at a relatively low temperature. Compared to traditional Leidenfrost effect occurring above 230 °C, the fin-array-like micropillars enable water microdroplets to levitate and jump off the surface within milliseconds at a temperature of 130 °C by triggering the inertia-controlled growth of individual vapour bubbles at the droplet base. We demonstrate that droplet jumping, resulting from momentum interactions between the expanding vapour bubble and the droplet, can be modulated by tailoring of the thermal boundary layer thickness through pillar height. This enables regulation of the bubble expansion between the inertia-controlled mode and the heat-transfer-limited mode. The two bubble-growth modes give rise to distinct droplet jumping behaviours characterized by constant velocity and constant energy regimes, respectively. This heating strategy allows the straightforward purging of wetting liquid droplets on rough or structured surfaces in a controlled manner, with potential applications including the rapid removal of fouling media, even when located in surface cavities.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Cleaned 5-Minute Resolution Air Quality and Meteorological Data from Nine TCEQ CAMS Sites in Houston, Texas (Nov 2021 – Oct 2022)

These data encompass 5-minute air monitoring and meteorological observations collected in the greater Houston, Texas metropolitan region, at nine (9) Continuous Ambient Monitoring Stations (CAMS) operated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) between November 1, 2021 and October 31, 2022. The CAMS sites (CAMS 1, 8, 35, 45, 148, 403, 405, 410, and 1052) were chosen because their instrumentation includes measurements of PM2.5. These sites also provide continuous multi-parameter air-quality and meteorological measurements. Particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) was sampled along with several trace gases, including ozone (O3), nitrogen oxides (NO, NO2, NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO). The data set also contains standard surface meteorological parameters (temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed, and wind direction). Several sites also include AutoGC-based measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Air monitoring instruments deployed at the selected sites comprise the following systems: BAM-1020 or TEOM (PM2.5), Thermo Scientific TEI 49i (O3), TEI 42i (NOx), and AutoGCs (VOCs). This data set is similar to the data included within the houairq5mX1.00 datastream, except for a few additional quality control steps. A systematic data cleaning and verification process was performed on the data set to ensure its quality and preparation for analysis. Removal of non-numeric status flags (e.g., [LIM], [QAS], [SPZ], [CAL], [PMA], [AQI], [SPN], [MAL]) was accomplished by employing rule-based string parsing to extract valid numerical values. Missing entries were set to -9999; however, invalid or anomalous values (e.g., 99999) were retained as originally reported by the TCEQ to preserve data provenance. The time sequence was verified for completeness, removal of duplicates, and uniformity at 5-minute intervals. Column labeling was standardized, and corresponding values were assessed for physical plausibility. All timestamps in the data set were reported in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) as provided by the TCEQ. Further, the latitude and longitude coordinates were added for each CAMS site. A subset of the data (June 1–September 30, 2022) has been used in the following publication: Subba et al. 2025. “Implications of sea breeze circulations on boundary layer aerosols in the southern coastal Texas region.” EGUsphere 2025: 1–49, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2659.

latitude↗

Design and Analysis of the Open-Surface Slow Li Flow Divertor and Comparison to the Fast Li Flow Divertor

In the ongoing U.S. project, “Liquid Metal Plasma Facing Components,” sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, efforts have been taken to develop two open-surface divertor designs for the Fusion Nuclear Science Facility using liquid lithium (Li) as a heat and particle flux removal media. The main focus of this study is the design and analysis of a slow (~1 mm/s) and thin (<1 mm) open-surface Li flow divertor with a Li-cooled substrate, which is then compared with an earlier design of a fast (up to 10 m/s) and thick (~0.5 cm) Li flow divertor with the substrate cooled with helium. The slow Li flow divertor design is based on the original LiWall concept developed at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Such a thin and slow Li layer can remove the particle flux by reducing the recycling flux, while the heat flux is removed mainly through the heat sink located beneath. In the present study, the heat sink is provided through a Li cooling flow inside the substrate of reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steel. By performing a multiphysics analysis with COMSOL that included liquid-metal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), heat transfer, and structural mechanics, the impact of various factors on the divertor heat removal capability, such as Li flow velocity, MHD effects, and inlet velocity boundary condition, were examined. Based on comparisons of the two divertor designs, it was shown that the fast-flow divertor significantly outperformed the slow-flow design, whose heat removal capability was limited to ~1 to 2 MW/m2.

Jiang, Yuchen [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000283280284)↗

Particle composition measurements for ultrafine particles collected at the EPCAPE Mount Soledad site from 04-27-2023 to 06-13-2023 using a Thermal Desorption Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer

The dataset contains particle composition data for both the positive and negative reagent ion modes of the Thermal Desorption Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (TDCIMS). The dataset is split into two directories: one for particles with diameters of 30 nm and the other for particles with diameters of less than 100 nm. The positive reagent ion mode uses H3O+ as the reagent ion, and ionization usually occurs through hydrogen addition. The negative mode uses O2- as the reagent ion. Negative mode ionization generally occurs through hydrogen abstraction, but O2- addition is also possible. Ion concentrations were normalized to total ion counts, and unknown ions were then removed from the data. The name of each ion fraction time series includes the mass to charge ratio and the chemical formula for the ion. Time is recorded in seconds since 1/1/1904. The time zone is UTC.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

IM3 Open Source Data Center Atlas

IM3 Open Source Data Center Atlas Description This dataset contains locations of existing data center facilities in the United States. Data center locations were derived from OpenStreetMap (OSM), a crowd-sourced database. Data points from OSM are processed in various ways to determine additional variables provided in the data including: facility area (square feet), associated US county, and US state. This dataset can be used to identify areas of concentrated data center development and inform government and private sector planning strategies for future buildout of data centers and the infrastructure necessary to support it. Usage Notes Validation of OSM-derived data center locations is an ongoing development under the IM3 project, and the database will be updated as new information becomes available. In some instances, both the data center area (e.g., campus) and individual data center buildings are included as overlapping areas in the database. Both values are retained. Data center points, buildings, and campus areas are provided as separate layers in the downloadable data package. Note that data items are not necessarily complete across layers. That is, a specific data center may only be present as a single point geometry in the "point" layer while other data centers are represented in both the campus and building layers. In some cases, data center campuses and/or buildings straddle a county boundary line. Mappings to both counties are retained in the database as separate rows. These data rows will have the same data center id information, but each will have different county information. Crowd-sourced data, by nature, relies on individuals and communities to provide information. As a result, some data may be missing where it has not yet been reported. As we collect information on additional data center locations and as OSM receives additional contributions, the database will be updated to capture additional data points not yet shown. Technical Information Data is available for download under the following formats: GeoPackage (GPKG) CSV Geospatial data is provided in the WGS84 (EPSG:4326) coordinate reference system. The GeoPackage download contains the following layers. See usage notes for more information. "point" "building" "campus" The "point" layer includes all data from OSM that had POINT geometry type (i.e., individual coordinates). The "building" layer includes all OSM data that did not have POINT geometry and where the building tag in the OSM export was neither equal to "no" or null. Data that did not meet the "point" or "building" qualification was assumed to be a facility campus and included in the "campus" layer. The dataset contains the following parameters. Variables provided by OSM are labeled with (OSM-provided). id - unique identification number (OSM-provided with prefix of "node/", "relation/" and similar attributes removed) state - name of US state state_abb - two letter US state abbreviation state_id - state ID number county - name of US county county_id - county ID number ref - reference numbers or codes (OSM-provided) operator - the name of the company, corporation, or person in charge facility (OSM-provided) name - name of facility (OSM-provided) sqft - surface area of facility polygon, measured in square feet. Only available for "building" and "campus" layers lat - latitude of data centroid point lon - longitude of data centroid point type – represented spatial information. One of "point", "building", or "campus". geometry – POLYGON geometry of area footprint (in "campus" and "building" layers) or POINT geometry of locations (in "point" layer). This parameter is not included in the csv download. Attribution Data center locations were derived from OpenStreetMap, which is made available at openstreetmap.org under the Open Database License (ODbL). US state and county boundary information was collected from the US Census Bureau for the year 2024, which is made publicly available at https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files.html Acknowledgment IM3 is a multi-institutional effort led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science as part of research in MultiSector Dynamics, Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling Program. License The IM3 Open Source Data Center Atlas is made available under the Open Database License: http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/. Disclaimer This material was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor the United States Department of Energy, nor the Contractor, nor any or their employees, nor any jurisdiction or organization that has cooperated in the development of these materials, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness or any information, apparatus, product, software, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof, or Battelle Memorial Institute. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORYoperated byBATTELLEfor theUNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGYunder Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830

Mongird, Kendall [Pacific Northwest National Labor↗