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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Floodplain Wetland Channel Planform, Cross-Sectional Morphology, and Sediment Characteristics Along an Estuarine to Tidal River Gradient

The formation of wetland channel networks on coastal river floodplains is affected by spatial transitions in tidal-fluvial processes. This study evaluated sedimentation patterns in tidal marshes on the 147-km tidal Columbia River and its 87-km estuary and characterized the cross-sectional geometry and planform morphometry of tidal wetlands along the estuarine to riverine gradient. Tidal marshes were predominantly depositional (median 0.7 cm yr-1, primarily silt), consistent with late-Holocene rates. Marsh sediment accretion rate increased with annual maximum 7-day average daily maximum water depth. Elevation was negatively correlated with accretion rate in the tidal river and positively correlated with total organic carbon (TOC%) in the tidal river and estuary. TOC% was greater in the estuary and, like percent fines, greater farther from the main-channel Columbia River. For four single-channel and six channel-network planforms of tidal marsh, shrub-dominated, and forested wetlands: (1) Spatial patterns of cross-sectional morphology conformed to typical coastal wetland morphology in estuarine reaches up to the tidal river. (2) Reach-based and common slope linear models for channel perimeter on wetland area were predictive in the estuary (R2 > 0.81) and differed between island (n = 144) and mainland (n = 164) wetlands. No planform linear models were predictive for the entire study area or the tidal river. No models for channel outlets were acceptable. (3) Channel perimeter, surface area, and outlets were all highly variable within and among estuarine–riverine reaches. Analyses of sediment, cross-section, and planform support the use of a “natural network paradigm” for wetland-restoration design on tidal river floodplains.

channel morphology↗
DOE OSTI2021

The effects of storms and a transient sandy veneer on the interannual planform evolution of a low-relief coastal cliff and shore platform at Sargent Beach, Texas, USA

Coastal cliff erosion is alongshore-variable and episodic, with retreat rates that depend upon sediment as either tools of abrasion or protective cover. However, the feedbacks between coastal cliff planform morphology, retreat rate, and sediment cover are poorly quantified. This study investigates Sargent Beach, Texas, USA, at the annual to interannual scale to explore (1) the relationship between temporal and spatial variability in cliff retreat rate, roughness, and sinuosity and (2) the response of retreat rate and roughness to changes in sand and shell hash cover of the underlying mud substrate as well as the impact of major storms using field measurements of sediment cover, erosion, and aerial images to measure shore platform morphology and retreat. A storm event in 2009 increased the planform roughness and sinuosity of the coastal cliff at Sargent Beach. Following the storm, aerial-image-derived shorelines with annual resolution show a decrease in average alongshore erosion rates from 12 to 4 m yr –1 , coincident with a decrease in shoreline roughness and sinuosity (smoothing). Like the previous storm, a storm event in 2017 increased the planform roughness and sinuosity of the cliff. Over shorter timescales, monthly retreat of the sea cliff occurred only when the platform was sparsely covered with sediment cover on the shore platform, indicating that the tools and cover effects can significantly affect short-term erosion rates. The timescale to return to a smooth shoreline following a storm or roughening event, given a steady-state erosion rate, is approximately 24 years, with the long-term rate suggesting a maximum of ~107 years until Sargent Beach breaches, compromising the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) under current conditions and assuming no future storms or intervention. The observed retreat rate varies, both spatially and temporally, with cliff face morphology, demonstrating the importance of multi-scale measurements and analysis for interpretation of coastal processes and patterns of cliff retreat.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Blade planform design optimization to enhance turbine wake control

Abstract This study considers optimizing the planform of wind turbine blades to ultimately enhance wind plant controls, namely, wake steering strategies. Adjoint‐enabled unsteady actuator line simulations are carried out to obtain gradients for optimization of several different performance objectives with respect to blade chord length at 10 locations along blade span. We demonstrate different blade design optimizations that can maximize time‐averaged lateral wake deflection, entrainment of kinetic energy, or total power of multiple turbines. Our optimized designs can produce a 4+% increase in wake deflection, a 4× increase in vertical kinetic energy entrainment, or a 3.6% increase in power when compared with the baseline case. While lateral wake deflection is only modestly sensitive to chord changes, we find that increasing the outboard chord length can dramatically increase kinetic energy entrainment, resulting in faster wake recovery and gains in net power. While this work develops only a few case studies emphasizing relative performance improvements and general trends, these results show the promise of a framework that combines mid‐fidelity computation with adjoint‐based optimization for control and design problems.

WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Pan-arctic river bank erosion and accretion, and planform metrics measured over intervals ranging from 1973 to 2016

This dataset provides the tabular summary of analysis of 17 reaches of 15 Arctic rivers for river bank erosion and accretion rates, as well as, river channel properties such as channel width, bank curvature, and the aspect/orientation of the river banks. These rivers include the: Chandalar River, Alaska, Colville River, Alaska; Indigirka River, Russia; Kolyma River, Russia; Koyukuk River, Alaska; Lena River, Alaska; Noatak River, Alaska; Ob River, Russia; Pechora River, Russia; Tanana River, Alaska, Selawik River, Alaska; Taz River, Russia; Yana River, Russia; Yenisei River, Russia; and the Yukon River, Alaska. The dataset was generated from a total of 129 images including: Landsat, higher resolution satellite imagery, and aerial photography over time periods ranging from the 1970s and 2016. A full list of the image dates, row and path (for Landsat), and pixel resolutions is provided in the dataset. Masks for the Chandalar River, Tanana River, and Yukon at Holy Cross were obtained from Brown et al. (2020). The masks were analyzed using the Spatially Continuous Riverbank Erosion and Accretion Measurements (SCREAM) software detailed in Rowland et al. 2016. The masks used in this analysis can be found an accompanying dataset (doi:10.15485/1571527).In files with “summary” in the name, the data is provided at a pixel level, where each mapped bank pixel has an associated erosion or accretion value, a channel width, a curvature value, and an aspect each river and time period will have an individual file. Files with “Segments” in name provide data that is averaged along segments of the rivers. These data are consolidated into a single file each for the erosion and accretion measurements. These segments are approximately 10 channel widths in length. In addition to erosion and accretion rates, the segment-based results include area measurements of erosion and accretion, islands, and channels. Revisions 2023:-Data added for the Koyukuk River for time periods of 1978-2012, 1978-2018, and 2012-2018. ---Data added from the Chandalar River, Tanana River, and Yukon River at Holy Cross based on masks obtained from Brown et al. (2020).-Updated the values for Drainage area and river slope, see methods below-Added values for meant topographic slope for upstream contributing area, long term averaged annual maximum monthly flow, average annual maximum monthly flow for the time period of erosion record, and added the river slope extracted from the Lin et al. (2020) data product.-Add field for River Planform Multi threaded (M) or Single threaded-Added ‘ConsolidatedErosionSegments.csv’ which provides the same data as AllRiversErosionSegments.csv rebinned with averages along river segments based on upstream drainage area instead of channel segments based on lengths set to approximately 10 channel widths.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

River bank erosion and accretion rates, and planform metrics of the East River, downstream of Gothic Colorado over intervals between 1955 and 2015

This dataset provides the tabular summary of analysis of an alluvial floodplain reach of the East River, downstream of Gothic, CO near Crested Butte. The measurements include bank erosion and accretion rates, channel width, bank curvature, and the aspect/orientation of the river banks. The measurements were derived from binary masks of the location of the river channel from aerial and satellite imagery collected on seven dates over a sixty-year timespan: 1955, 1973, 1983, 1990, 2001, 2011, and 2015. The masks were analyzed using the Spatially Continuous Riverbank Erosion and Accretion Measurements (SCREAM) software detailed in Rowland et al. 2016. The masks used in this analysis can be found an accompanying dataset (DOI: ). Rates of change along the East River were measured over a total of 8-time intervals: 1955-1973; 1955-2015; 1973-1983; 1983-1990; 1990-2001; 2001-2011; 2001-2015; and 2011-2015.In files with “summary” in the name, the data is provided at a pixel level, where each mapped bank pixel has an associated erosion or accretion value, a channel width, a curvature value, and an aspect each river and time period will have an individual file. Files with “Segments” in name provide data that is averaged along segments of the rivers. These segments are approximately 10 channel widths in length. In addition to erosion and accretion rates, the segment-based results include area measurements of erosion and accretion, islands, and channels. The number of islands is also included.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Determining flow directions in river channel networks using planform morphology and topology

Abstract. The abundance of global, remotely sensed surface water observations has accelerated efforts toward characterizing and modeling how water moves across the Earth's surface through complex channel networks. In particular, deltas and braided river channel networks may contain thousands of links that route water, sediment, and nutrients across landscapes. In order to model flows through channel networks and characterize network structure, the direction of flow for each link within the network must be known. In this work, we propose a rapid, automatic, and objective method to identify flow directions for all links of a channel network using only remotely sensed imagery and knowledge of the network's inlet and outlet locations. We designed a suite of direction-predicting algorithms (DPAs), each of which exploits a particular morphologic characteristic of the channel network to provide a prediction of a link's flow direction. DPAs were chained together to create “recipes”, or algorithms that set all the flow directions of a channel network. Separate recipes were built for deltas and braided rivers and applied to seven delta and two braided river channel networks. Across all nine channel networks, the recipe-predicted flow directions agreed with expert judgement for 97 % of all tested links, and most disagreements were attributed to unusual channel network topologies that can easily be accounted for by pre-seeding critical links with known flow directions. Our results highlight the (non)universality of process–form relationships across deltas and braided rivers.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Using system identification in modeling the yaw response of tail fins for small wind turbines with bearing friction

Here, we describe three main developments of our previous study of the nonlinear yaw dynamics of the tail fins for small wind turbines [Khedr et al., J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 16, 053305 (2024)]. First, the model constants derived from archived computational and experimental studies are adjusted by employing system identification (SI) to maximize the model's agreement with wind tunnel tests. This adjustment was done for high wind speeds, where yaw bearing friction can be ignored. When starting a turbine at low wind speed, however, friction can become important. Our second development is to implement a model for the frictional resistive torque and use SI to maximize its accuracy. These developments used wind tunnel experiments on generic delta, elliptical, and rectangular planforms that were described by Khedr et al. [J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 16, 053305 (2024)]. Since the aerodynamic and friction models employ a large number of constants, we describe ways to constrain the values using linearized solutions of the response equations for small and large yaw angles. Third, we test the generality of the aerodynamic and friction modeling using the complex planform from a commercial small turbine, for which limited theoretical and computational guidance is available in selecting the model constants. The model implemented with SI is shown to provide an accurate description of the yaw response of the complex planform. Guidelines are given for the use of wind tunnel tests to determine the model constants for tail fins of any planform.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Sinuosity‐Driven Hyporheic Exchange: Hydrodynamics and Biogeochemical Potentials

Abstract Hydrologic exchange processes are critical for ecosystem services along river corridors. Meandering contributes to this exchange by driving channel water, solutes, and energy through the surrounding alluvium, a process called sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange. This exchange is embedded within and modulated by the regional groundwater flow (RGF), which compresses the hyporheic zone and potentially diminishes its overall impact. Quantifying the role of sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange at the reach‐to‐watershed scale requires a mechanistic understanding of the interplay between drivers (meander planform) and modulators (RGF) and its implications for biogeochemical transformations. Here, we use a 2D, vertically integrated numerical model for flow, transport, and reaction to analyze sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange systematically. Using this model, we propose a dimensionless framework to explore the role of meander planform and RGF in hydrodynamics and how they constrain nitrogen cycling. Our results highlight the importance of meander topology for water flow and age. We demonstrate how the meander neck induces a shielding effect that protects the hyporheic zone against RGF, imposing a physical constraint on biogeochemical transformations. Furthermore, we explore the conditions when a meander acts as a net nitrogen source or sink. This transition in the net biogeochemical potential is described by a handful of dimensionless physical and biogeochemical parameters that can be measured or constrained from literature and remote sensing. This work provides a new physically based model that quantifies sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange and biogeochemical reactions, a critical step toward their representation in water quality models and the design and assessment of river restoration strategies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Area Localized Coupled Model for Analytical Mean Flow Prediction in Arbitrary Wind Farm Geometries

This work introduces the area localized coupled (ALC) model, which extends the applicability of approaches that couple classical wake superposition models and atmospheric boundary layer models to wind farms with arbitrary layouts. Coupling wake and top–down boundary layer models is particularly challenging since the latter requires averaging over planform areas associated with turbine-specific regions of the flow that need to be specified. The ALC model uses Voronoi tessellation to define this local area around each turbine. A top–down description of a developing internal boundary layer is then applied over Voronoi cells upstream of each turbine to estimate the local mean velocity profile. Coupling between the velocity at hub-height based on this localized top–down model and a wake model is achieved by enforcing a minimum least-square-error in mean velocity in each cell. The wake model in the present implementation takes into account variations in wind farm inflow velocity and represents the wake profile behind each turbine as a super-Gaussian function that smoothly transitions between a top-hat shape in the region immediately following the turbine to a Gaussian profile downstream. Detailed comparisons to large-eddy simulation (LES) data from two different wind farms demonstrate the efficacy of the model in accurately predicting both wind farm power output and local turbine hub-height velocity for different wind farm geometries. These validations using data generated from two different LES codes demonstrate the model's versatility with respect to capturing results from different simulation setups and wind farm configurations.

49 EE - Wind and Water Power Program - Wind (EE-4W↗
DOE OSTI2024

The nonlinear behavior of generic tail fins for small wind turbines

This paper describes analysis and measurements of the yaw response of tail fins for small wind turbines. It is based on an extension of unsteady slender body theory (USBT) to cover non-slender fins and high angles of incidence, both of which make the theory nonlinear. We provide three main additions to the substantial literature on linearized USBT for tail fins. First, USBT is extended to high angles by modeling the nonlinear vortex dynamics. Second, the restriction to slender bodies is removed by modeling the chordwise load variation. Third, we consider the effect of time-varying wind speed. Further, the extended theory is compared to wind tunnel measurements of the yaw behavior of delta, elliptical, and rectangular tail fins without a rotor and nacelle. The fins were released from initial yaw angles of -40° and -80°; the latter is of sufficient magnitude to show the importance of the nonlinear yaw dynamics. Generally good agreement was found between the theory and measurements, and the theory was shown to be more accurate than a “polar” or quasi-steady model which uses only the lift and drag of a delta planform. Of the three planforms, the rectangular one showed the lowest accuracy in terms of frequency but the damping was accurately predicted. Overall, the results demonstrate the importance of nonlinearity in the response of a yawing tail fin, particularly for the higher aspect ratio fins at large yaw angles.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Multipoint Aerostructural Optimization of Wind Turbine Rotors Using a Coupled Blade‐Resolved Aerostructural Solver

Physics‐based design optimization workflows thread the needle between computational cost limitations and simulation complexity, often compromising between modeling detail and the range of operating design conditions. Multipoint aerostructural optimization of wind turbine rotors has so far been confined to low‐fidelity analyses or to high‐fidelity studies with simplified structural models, leaving the most complex design trade‐offs unexplored. We close this gap by performing the first tightly coupled gradient‐based multipoint aerostructural rotor optimization using 3D aerodynamic and structural solvers with discrete coupled adjoints. The optimizer simultaneously varies blade planform, airfoil shapes, and structural thickness through more than 270 design variables, minimizing a weighted combination of rotor mass and power across multiple wind speeds. Applied to a modified DTU 10‐MW benchmark under conservative structural and aerodynamic constraints, our multipoint optimization reduces rotor mass by up to 36% and increases power by 12%–15% across the main operating conditions; biasing the objective toward power yields power gains up to 18% and a 17% mass reduction. For a nominal wind distribution, 3‐point rotor designs accounting for low RPM and high thrust conditions capture dominant trade‐offs and outperform single‐point designs. Adding two off‐design points changes individual‐condition power by less than 3% but leaves the weighted average within 0.5%, and the mass‐power bias has a stronger effect on the final design than the operating‐point weighting itself. Our framework extends naturally to richer load cases and site‐specific wind distributions, providing a basis for high‐fidelity multipoint design earlier in industrial workflows.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

On the Morphodynamics of a Wide Class of Large‐Scale Meandering Rivers: Insights Gained by Coupling LES With Sediment‐Dynamics

Abstract In meandering rivers, interactions between flow, sediment transport, and bed topography affect diverse processes, including bedform development and channel migration. Predicting how these interactions affect the spatial patterns and magnitudes of bed deformation in meandering rivers is essential for various river engineering and geoscience problems. Computational fluid dynamics simulations can predict river morphodynamics at fine temporal and spatial scales but have traditionally been challenged by the large scale of natural rivers. We conducted coupled large‐eddy simulation and bed morphodynamics simulations to create a unique database of hydro‐morphodynamic data sets for 42 meandering rivers with a variety of planform shapes and large‐scale geometrical features that mimic natural meanders. For each simulated river, the database includes (a) bed morphology, (b) three‐dimensional mean velocity field, and (c) bed shear stress distribution under bankfull flow conditions. The calculated morphodynamics results at dynamic equilibrium revealed the formation of scour and deposition patterns near the outer and inner banks, respectively, while the location of point bars and scour regions around the apexes of the meander bends is found to vary as a function of the radius of curvature of the bends to the width ratio. A new mechanism is proposed that explains this seemingly paradoxical finding. The high‐fidelity simulation results generated in this work provide researchers and scientists with a rich numerical database for morphodynamics and bed shear stress distributions in large‐scale meandering rivers to enable systematic investigation of the underlying phenomena and support a range of river engineering applications.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Impacts of Topography‐Driven Water Redistribution on Terrestrial Water Storage Change in California Through Ecosystem Responses

Abstract Lateral subsurface flow plays an essential role in sustaining the terrestrial ecosystem, but it is not explicitly represented in most Earth System Models. In this study, we implemented an explicit lateral saturated flow model into the E3SM land model (ELM). The model explicitly describes lateral flow in the saturated zone by representing, for each model grid, an idealized hillslope consisting of five hydrologically connected soil columns. We conducted three model experiments driven by 0.125° atmospheric forcing data during 1980–2015 over California using models of the default ELM, a modified version of ELM to enhance infiltration, and the model with the lateral saturated flow model. The simulated runoff, evapotranspiration, and terrestrial water storage anomaly (TWSA) from the three simulations were evaluated against available observations, and the model explicitly representing lateral flow performs best. The new model produces greater gridcell‐averaged evapotranspiration especially over the mountainous regions with moderate relief and seasonally dry climates. Most importantly, it improves the modeled seasonal variations, interannual variabilities, and the recent decadal decline of TWSA. Many of these improvements can be attributed to the enhanced ecosystem resilience to droughts as demonstrated by transpiration increases caused by lateral flow. Model sensitivity experiments suggest that subsurface runoff is most sensitive to the ratio between horizontal and vertical saturated hydraulic conductivity, followed by hillslope planforms (convergent, divergent, and uniform), number of columns, and lower boundary conditions. Future work should effectively characterize hillslopes in global models and explore the long‐term influences of lateral water movement on modeled biogeochemical cycle.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

River sinuosity describes a continuum between randomness and ordered growth

River channels are among the most common landscape features on Earth. An essential characteristic of channels is sinuosity: their tendency to take a circuitous path, which is quantified as along-stream length divided by straight-line length. River sinuosity is interpreted as a characteristic that either forms randomly at channel inception or develops over time as meander bends migrate. Studies tend to assume the latter and thus have used river sinuosity as a proxy for both modern and ancient environmental factors including climate, tectonics, vegetation, and geologic structure. But no quantitative criterion for planform expression has distinguished between random, initial sinuosity and that developed by ordered growth through channel migration. This ambiguity calls into question the utility of river sinuosity for understanding Earth’s history. We propose a quantitative framework to reconcile these competing explanations for river sinuosity. Using a coupled analysis of modeled and natural channels, we show that while a majority of observed sinuosity is consistent with randomness and limited channel migration, rivers with sinuosity ≥1.5 likely formed their geometry through sustained, ordered growth due to channel migration. This criterion frames a null hypothesis for river sinuosity that can be applied to evaluate the significance of environmental interpretations in landscapes shaped by rivers. The quantitative link between sinuosity and channel migration further informs strategies for preservation and restoration of riparian habitat and guides predictions of fluvial deposits in the rock record and in remotely sensed environments from the seafloor to planetary surfaces.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

TEAMER: Water Tunnel Data from Testing the Pterofin Skimmer Concept

Pterofin's Skimmer concept relies on a flapping and pitching hydrofoil to extract hydrokinetic energy from water flows. The concept aims to utilize unsteady fluid dynamics phenomena (added mass, shed vorticity, and unsteady boundary layer development) to achieve higher lift coefficients, enabling increased power density of the hydrokinetic device and a fundamental shift in the rpm/torque scaling of the power take off compared with turbines. The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State, in collaboration with Pterofin, designed and built a proof-of-concept flapping/pitching mechanism which was subsequently tested in ARL's 12-inch water tunnel facility. The mechanical power supplied to or extracted from the mechanism was measured for a range of hydrofoils provided by Pterofin over operating conditions including reduced frequency, Reynolds number, and the ratio between pitching and flapping amplitudes. The power lost to friction in the mechanism was removed from the net power measurement by means of a bare hub tare, with the resultant hydrodynamic power being used to calculate a mechanism-independent and non-dimensional power coefficient. The product of this effort is a dataset describing the power coefficient of a hydrofoil having simultaneous pitching and flapping motions, both of which are approximately sinusoidal. Power coefficients were collected for a range of primary design variables including: - Reduced frequency: 0.01 to 0.95 - Pitching/flapping peak angle ratio: 1.5 to 3.0 - Chord-based Reynolds number: 60,000 to 560,000 Secondary design variables relating to the hydrofoil geometry were explored including: - Aspect ratio - Planform shape - Section thickness distribution - Hydrofoil position relative to the pitching axis - Hydrofoil sweep angle relative to the pitching axis Measured data are provided in mean and time series formats. MATLAB scripts are provided which can be used to generate figures of time-averaged and phase-averaged hydrodynamic power coefficients calculated from the measured data. A complete description of the experiment and data reduction can be found in the Post Access Report for the Pterofin Skimmer test effort which will be available on the TEAMER website. This work was supported by the Pacific Energy Ocean Trust via a TEAMER award.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2019

Classified channel masks of portions of 13 rivers across the Arctic and areas of floodplain erosion and accretion ranging from 1973 to 2016

This dataset provides classified river channel masks of 17 reaches of 15 Arctic rivers for river bank erosion and accretion rates, as well as, river channel properties such as channel width, bank curvature, and the aspect/orientation of the river banks. These rivers include the: Chandalar River, Alaska, Colville River, Alaska; Indigirka River, Russia; Kolyma River, Russia; Koyukuk River, Alaska; Lena River, Alaska; Noatak River, Alaska; Ob River, Russia; Pechora River, Russia; Tanana River, Alaska, Selawik River, Alaska; Taz River, Russia; Yana River, Russia; Yenisei River, Russia; and the Yukon River, Alaska. The dataset was generated from a total of 129 images including: Landsat, higher resolution satellite imagery, and aerial photography over time periods ranging from the 1970s and 2016. A full list of the image dates, row and path (for Landsat), and pixel resolutions is provided in the dataset. Masks for the Chandalar River, Tanana River, and Yukon at Holy Cross were obtained from Brown et al. (2020). The masks were analyzed using the Spatially Continuous Riverbank Erosion and Accretion Measurements (SCREAM) software detailed in Rowland et al. 2016. The masks used in this analysis can be found an accompanying dataset (doi:10.15485/1571527). These masks provide the source data for the erosion, accretion, and planform measurement provided in the companion dataset: doi:10.15485/1571527.Revision January 2023:Added masks for Koyukuk River based on imagery from 1978, 2012, and 2018. Added masks based on analysis of Brown et al. (2020) for the Tanana, Chandalar, and Yukon (Holy Cross) Rivers. Update abstract and the image summary file.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Measuring subaqueous progradation of the Wax Lake Delta with a model of flow direction divergence

Abstract. Remotely sensed flow patterns can reveal the location of the subaqueous distal tip of a distributary channel on a prograding river delta. Morphodynamic feedbacks produce distributary channels that become shallower over their final reaches before the unchannelized foreset slopes basinward. The flow direction field over this morphology tends to diverge and then converge, providing a diagnostic signature that can be captured in flow or remote sensing data. A total of 21 measurements from the Wax Lake Delta (WLD) in coastal Louisiana and 317 measurements from numerically simulated deltas show that the transition from divergence to convergence occurs in a distribution that is centered just downstream of the channel tip, on average 132 m in the case of the WLD. These data validate an inverse model for remotely estimating subaqueous channel tip location. We apply this model to 33 images of the WLD between its initiation in 1974 and 2016. We find that six of the primary channels grew at rates of 60–80 m yr−1, while the remaining channel grew at 116 m yr−1. We also show that the subaqueous delta planform grew at a constant rate (1.72 km2 yr−1). Subaerial land area initially grew at the same rate but slowed after about 1999. We explain this behavior as a gradual decoupling of channel tip progradation and island aggradation that may be common in maturing deltas.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

CERF Visualization: Wind turbine siting in central California, USA from 2020-2050

CERF Visualization: Wind turbine siting in central California from 2020-2050 Visualization of CERF outputs for years 2020-2050 in 5-year time steps for a region in central California, USA. This visualization uses Google Earth Pro to zoom into the region of interest, show the layered application of wind suitability criteria, show the siting for each year in planform, and then zoom into to show functional wind turbines as they are added annually to the area of interest.

Energy↗