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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 OSTI2025

Improving tropical cyclone rapid intensification forecasts with satellite measurements of sea surface salinity and calibrated machine learning

Forecasting rapid intensification (RI) of tropical cyclones (TC) is a mission known for large errors. One under-researched factor that affects TC intensification is salinity, which is important for density stratification in certain ocean regions and can affect the surface enthalpy flux under a strengthening hurricane. To investigate the impact and efficacy of using salinity information in state-of-the-art forecasting, we use a statistical model consisting of a variety of machine learning (ML) methods. For salinity data, we use satellite measurements of pre-storm sea surface salinity (SSS) as a proxy for the salinity stratification. We train and test the model on various ocean basins, including the Atlantic, eastern North Pacific and western North Pacific. A calibrator is trained on top of the ML models to correct and enhance probability forecasts. The calibrator significantly improves probability forecasts relative to recent works. The ML model performance is improved with the addition of SSS in the Eastern North Pacific, western North Pacific, and the Caribbean subregion of the North Atlantic, and the overall model performance is better than previous studies. SSS decreases model skill for a model trained on the full Atlantic basin. In the Indian Ocean, SSS is also notably correlated with RI occurrence, but the TC samples are not sufficient to train ML models.

hurricane↗
DOE OSTI2024

Estimating Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Two California Cities Using Bayesian Inversion and Satellite Measurements

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatories (OCO-2 and OCO-3) provide measurements of column-averaged carbon dioxide concentrations (XCO 2 ) with sufficient spatial resolution and precision to constrain bottom-up estimates of CO 2 fluxes at regional scales. We use Bayesian inversion methods assimilating satellite retrievals to improve estimates of CO 2 fluxes in the South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB) which surrounds Los Angeles, and in the San Francisco Bay Area Air Basin (SFBA). We study 2020 to understand the impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns and an active wildfire season. Our results indicated that a 50% (30%) reduction in CO 2 emissions relative to 2015 during the COVID-19 lockdown period was consistent with OCO measurements for SFBA (SoCAB). We find that posterior wildfire emissions differed significantly from the prior at the scale of individual wildfires, though with large uncertainties, and that wildfire emissions in SFBA are significant, attributing 72% of the region's CO 2 emissions during August 2020 to wildfires.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Unveiling four decades of intensifying precipitation from tropical cyclones using satellite measurements

Increases in precipitation rates and volumes from tropical cyclones (TCs) caused by anthropogenic warming are predicted by climate modeling studies and have been identified in several high intensity storms occurring over the last half decade. However, it has been difficult to detect historical trends in TC precipitation at time scales long enough to overcome natural climate variability because of limitations in existing precipitation observations. We introduce an experimental global high-resolution climate data record of precipitation produced using infrared satellite imagery and corrected at the monthly scale by a gauge-derived product that shows generally good performance during two hurricane case studies but estimates higher mean precipitation rates in the tropics than the evaluation datasets. General increases in mean and extreme rainfall rates during the study period of 1980–2019 are identified, culminating in a 12–18%/40-year increase in global rainfall rates. Overall, all basins have experienced intensification in precipitation rates. Increases in rainfall rates have boosted the mean precipitation volume of global TCs by 7–15% over 40 years, with the starkest rises seen in the North Atlantic, South Indian, and South Pacific basins (maximum 59–64% over 40 years). In terms of inland rainfall totals, year-by-year trends are generally positive due to increasing TC frequency, slower decay over land, and more intense rainfall, with an alarming increase of 81–85% seen from the strongest global TCs. As the global trend in precipitation rates follows expectations from warming sea surface temperatures (11.1%/°C), we hypothesize that the observed trends could be a result of anthropogenic warming creating greater concentrations of water vapor in the atmosphere, though retrospective studies of TC dynamics over the period are needed to confirm.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Assessing net ecosystem carbon exchange of U.S. terrestrial ecosystems by integrating eddy covariance flux measurements and satellite observations

More accurate projections of future carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and associated climate change depend on improved scientific understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Despite the consensus that U.S. terrestrial ecosystems provide a carbon sink, the size, distribution, and interannual variability of this sink remain uncertain. Here we report a terrestrial carbon sink in the conterminous U.S. at 0.63 pg C yr-1 with the majority of the sink in regions dominated by evergreen and deciduous forests and savannas. This estimate is based on our continuous estimates of net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) with high spatial (1 km) and temporal (8-day) resolutions derived from NEE measurements from eddy covariance flux towers and wall-to-wall satellite observations from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We find that the U.S. terrestrial ecosystems could offset a maximum of 40% of the fossil-fuel carbon emissions. Our results show that the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink varied between 0.51 and 0.70 pg C yr-1 over the period 2001–2006. The dominant sources of interannual variation of the carbon sink included extreme climate events and disturbances. Droughts in 2002 and 2006 reduced the U.S. carbon sink by ~20% relative to a normal year. Disturbances including wildfires and hurricanes reduced carbon uptake or resulted in carbon release at regional scales. Our results provide an alternative, independent, and novel constraint to the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Comparison of High-Frequency Solar Irradiance: Ground Measured vs. Satellite-Derived

High-frequency solar variability is an important to grid integration studies, but ground measurements are scarce. The high resolution irradiance algorithm (HRIA) has the ability to produce 4-sceond resolution global horizontal irradiance (GHI) samples, at locations across North America. However, the HRIA has not been extensively validated. In this work, we evaluate the HRIA against a database of 10 high-frequency ground-based measurements of irradiance. The evaluation focuses on variability-based metrics. This results in a greater understanding of the errors in the HRIA as well as suggestions for improvement to the HRIA.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Instance Segmentation for Direct Measurements of Satellites in Metal Powders and Automated Microstructural Characterization from Image Data

In this work, we propose instance segmentation as a useful tool for image analysis in materials science. Instance segmentation is an advanced technique in computer vision which generates individual segmentation masks for every object of interest that is recognized in an image. Using an out-of-the-box implementation of Mask R-CNN, instance segmentation is applied to images of metal powder particles produced through gas atomization. Leveraging transfer learning allows for the analysis to be conducted with a very small training set of labeled images. As well as providing another method for measuring the particle size distribution, we demonstrate the first direct measurements of the satellite content in powder samples. After analyzing the results for the labeled data dataset, the trained model was used to generate measurements for a much larger set of unlabeled images. The resulting particle size measurements showed reasonable agreement with laser scattering measurements. The satellite measurements were self-consistent and showed good agreement with the expected trends for different samples. Finally, we present a small case study showing how instance segmentation can be used to measure spheroidite content in the UltraHigh Carbon Steel DataBase, demonstrating the flexibility of the technique.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Origin of ion-cyclotron turbulence in the downward Birkeland current region

Linear stability analysis of the electron velocity distributions, which are observed in the FAST satellite measurements in the downward Birkeland current region of the magnetosphere, is presented. The satellite-measured particle (electrons and protons) velocity distributions are fitted with analytic functions and the dispersion relation is derived in terms of the plasma dispersion functions associated with those distribution functions. Numerical solutions of the dispersion relation show that the bump-on-tail structure of the electron velocity distribution can excite electrostatic ion-cyclotron instabilities by the Landau resonance mechanism. Nonlinear evolution of these instabilities may explain the observed electrostatic ion-cyclotron turbulence in the Birkeland current region. Excitation of other types of instabilities by the fitted electron velocity distributions and their relevance are also discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Use of MERRA-2 in the National Solar Radiation Database and Beyond

The National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) is a flagship product of NREL that provides solar radiation and ancillary meteorological information through a GIS based portal. This data is provided at a 4kmx4km spatial and 30 minute temporal resolution covering the period between 1998-2015. The gridded data that is distributed by the NSRDB is derived from satellite measurements using the Physical Solar Model (PSM) that contains a 2-stage approach. This 2-stage approach consists of first retrieving cloud properties using measurement from the GOES series of satellites and using that information in a radiative transfer model to estimate solar radiation at the surface. In addition to the satellite data the model requires ancillary meteorological information that is provided mainly by NASA's Modern Era Retrospecitve Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2) 2 model output. This presentation provides an insight into how the NSRDB is developed using the PSM and how the various sources of data including the MERRA-2 data is used during the process.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Assessing net ecosystem carbon exchange of U S terrestrial ecosystems by integrating eddy covariance flux measurements and satellite observations

More accurate projections of future carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and associated climate change depend on improved scientific understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Despite the consensus that U.S. terrestrial ecosystems provide a carbon sink, the size, distribution, and interannual variability of this sink remain uncertain. Here we report a terrestrial carbon sink in the conterminous U.S. at 0.63 pg C yr 1 with the majority of the sink in regions dominated by evergreen and deciduous forests and savannas. This estimate is based on our continuous estimates of net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) with high spatial (1 km) and temporal (8-day) resolutions derived from NEE measurements from eddy covariance flux towers and wall-to-wall satellite observations from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We find that the U.S. terrestrial ecosystems could offset a maximum of 40% of the fossil-fuel carbon emissions. Our results show that the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink varied between 0.51 and 0.70 pg C yr 1 over the period 2001 2006. The dominant sources of interannual variation of the carbon sink included extreme climate events and disturbances. Droughts in 2002 and 2006 reduced the U.S. carbon sink by 20% relative to a normal year. Disturbances including wildfires and hurricanes reduced carbon uptake or resulted in carbon release at regional scales. Our results provide an alternative, independent, and novel constraint to the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2010

Probing cosmic strings with satellite CMB measurements

We study the problem of searching for cosmic string signal patterns in the present high resolution and high sensitivity observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). This article discusses a technique capable of recognizing Kaiser-Stebbins effect signatures in total intensity anisotropy maps from isolated strings. We derive the statistical distributions of null detections from purely Gaussian fluctuations and instrumental performances of the operating satellites, and show that the biggest factor that produces confusion is represented by the acoustic oscillation features of the scale comparable to the size of horizon at recombination. Simulations show that the distribution of null detections converges to a χ{sup 2} distribution, with detectability threshold at 99% confidence level corresponding to a string induced step signal with an amplitude of about 100 μK which corresponds to a limit of roughly Gμ ∼ 1.5 × 10{sup −6}. We implement simulations for deriving the statistics of spurious detections caused by extra-Galactic and Galactic foregrounds. For diffuse Galactic foregrounds, which represents the dominant source of contamination, we construct sky masks outlining the available region of the sky where the Galactic confusion is sub-dominant, specializing our analysis to the case represented by the frequency coverage and nominal sensitivity and resolution of the Planck experiment. As for other CMB measurements, the maximum available area, corresponding to 7%, is reached where the foreground emission is expected to be minimum, in the 70–100 GHz interval.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Advanced Solar Resource Modeling and Analysis (Final Technical Report)

The SunShot Initiative coordinates research, development, demonstration, and deployment activities aimed at dramatically reducing the total installed cost of solar power. The SunShot Initiative focuses on removing critical technical and non-technical barriers to installing and integrating solar energy into the electricity grid. Uncertainty in projected power and energy production from solar power systems contributes to these barriers by increasing financial risks to photovoltaic (PV) deployment and by exacerbating the technical challenges to integration of solar power on the electricity grid. The dominant contribution to uncertainty in projected power and energy from solar power systems arises from uncertainty in the estimated solar resource. Most often, the solar resource is estimated from satellite measurements which may be supplemented by on-site ground measurements. To project system power and energy, irradiance must be estimated over the system’s footprint, separated into direct and diffuse components, and translated into the array’s plane. Uncertainty in the estimated irradiance thus arises from uncertainty in the models that: translate satellite measurements to estimated irradiance; portray the spatial and temporal variation in irradiance over a power plant’s footprint, or over a fleet of solar power systems; and separate global horizontal irradiance into its beam and diffuse components.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

SPITZER AS A MICROLENS PARALLAX SATELLITE: MASS MEASUREMENT FOR THE OGLE-2014-BLG-0124L PLANET AND ITS HOST STAR

We combine Spitzer and ground-based observations to measure the microlens parallax vector π{sub E}, and thus the mass and distance of OGLE-2014-BLG-0124L, making it the first microlensing planetary system with a space-based parallax measurement. The planet and star have masses of m ∼ 0.5 M {sub jup} and M ∼ 0.7 M {sub ☉} and are separated by a ∼ 3.1 AU in projection. The main source of uncertainty in all of these numbers (approximately 30%, 30%, and 20%) is the relatively poor measurement of the Einstein radius θ{sub E}, rather than uncertainty in π{sub E}, which is measured with 2.5% precision. This compares to 22% based on OGLE data alone, implying that the Spitzer data provide not only a substantial improvement in the precision of the π{sub E} measurement, but also the first independent test of a ground-based π{sub E} measurement.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Spatiotemporal dynamics of nitrogen dioxide pollution and urban development: Satellite observations over China, 2005–2016

China experienced rapid urbanization and industrialization in recent years, which resulted in large increases of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particularly in urban areas. We analyze the spatiotemporal variations of the vertical column densities (VCDs) of tropospheric NO2 with the level of urban development across China during the period 2005-2016. Nighttime light (NTL) data are applied as a proxy for urban development to investigate the relationship between NO, pollution and urban development. Both NO2 column data and NTL data are observed by satellite measurements. The annual mean of NO2 VCDs is presented on a grid basis. The average annual variations of NO2 VCDs and NTL value are detected for all 341 prefectural cities. Two-thirds of the cities reached their peak NO2 pollution level around 2010-2012, and decreased afterward. About 10% of the western cities kept on increasing their NO2 levels until 2016. All cities are classified into four categories with respect to the average annual variations of NO2/NTL in 2005-2010, and 2011-2016. Approximately 62% of the cities turned the average annual variations of NO2/NTL from positive to negative. 19% of the cities are in the positive-positive category and 11% of the cities are in the negative-negative category. The remaining 8% of the cities changed their ratios from negative to positive. We summarize the national air pollution regulations, and our results show the effectiveness of the regulations for most eastern China cities. This work can help to design more efficient regional emission reduction policies with sustainable development.

nighttime light data↗
DOE OSTI2018

Methodical Aspects of the Determination of Carbon Dioxide in Atmosphere Using FTIR Spectroscopy

Monitoring the state of ground-based spectroscopic systems ensures high accuracy of atmospheric gas composition measurements and the possibility of using measurement data for validating satellite measurements and numerical models. Column-averaged carbon dioxide mixing ratios (XCO{sub 2}) can be used to assess the quality of spectroscopic measurements because its content is stable in the atmosphere. The XCO{sub 2} values were retrieved from spectra measured by Fourier transform IR spectrometry (FTIR) using a Bruker 125HR instrument between 2009 and 2017 at the Peterhof station (St. Petersburg, Russia). The total error of the FTIR CO{sub 2} columns retrieval was 4.18 ± 0.02%, with 0.36 ± 0.06% and 4.16 ± 0.02% for random and systematic errors, respectively. The data obtained are compared with model calculations based on long-term observations at the Mauna Loa station. Various schemes solving for the inverse problem were analyzed and compared among themselves, and estimates of empirical random errors in the determination of XCO{sub 2} were obtained. To improve the accuracy of XCO{sub 2} measurements, it is recommended to determine the error of the Fourier-spectrometer phase and the slope of the zero line of the spectrum simultaneously with the atmospheric gas composition measurements taking into account various continuum sources of error.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗