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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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Tethered Balloon System (TBS) Instrument Handbook

The Tethered Balloon System (TBS) is an unmanned aerial system composed of a helium-filled balloon, tether, winch, and sensors. Individual components of the system may change with each flight based on the desired measurements, atmospheric conditions, and flight strategy. The TBS operates within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s R-2204 Restricted Airspace, which encompasses a two-nautical-mile radius centered on Oliktok Point, Alaska that is segmented by altitude into R-2204 Low (0-1,499’ MSL or 0-457 m MSL) and R-2204 High (1,500-6,999’ MSL or 457-2133 m MSL). The TBS may operate outside of R-2204 if allowed to do so under a Certificate of Authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Seasonal and long-term variations in leaf area of Congolese rainforest

It is important to understand temporal and spatial variations in the structure and photosynthetic capacity of tropical rainforests in a world of changing climate, increased disturbances and human appropriation. The equatorial rainforests of Central Africa are the second largest and least disturbed of the biodiversly-rich and highly productive rainforests on Earth. Currently, there is a dearth of knowledge about the phenological behavior and long-term changes that these forests are experiencing. Here, this study reports on leaf area seasonality and its time trend over the past two decades as assessed from multiple remotely sensed datasets. Seasonal variations of leaf area in Congolese forests derived from MODIS data co-vary with the bimodal precipitation pattern in this region, with higher values during the wet season. Independent observational evidence derived from MISR and EPIC sensors in the form of angular reflectance signatures further corroborate this seasonal behavior of leaf area. The bimodal patterns vary latitudinally within this large region. Two sub-seasonal cycles, each consisting of a dry and wet season, could be discerned clearly. These exhibit different sensitivities to changes in precipitation. Contrary to a previous published report, no widespread decline in leaf area was detected across the entire extent of the Congolese rainforests over the past two decades with the latest MODIS Collection 6 dataset. Long-term precipitation decline did occur in some localized areas, but these had minimal impacts on leaf area, as inferred from MODIS and MISR multi-angle observations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The Consortium for Advanced Sorghum Phenomics (CASP). Final report

The goal of CASP was to accelerate breeding of biomass sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] by identifying genotypes exhibiting high yield under well-watered, pre- or post-drought and/or salinity-stress conditions. We did this by combining high-throughput, non-invasive drone phenotyping with genomics and molecular profiling. Field-based phenotyping utilized a multi-modal sensor suite of LiDAR, multispectral cameras, and thermal cameras mounted on a commercial drone to detect traits required for yield prediction and selection of drought and saline tolerant lines of sorghum. Traits of interest included plant height (PH), leaf area index (LAI), wet biomass (BMW), and biomass at 65% moisture (BM65) and were measured from emergence to harvest on a weekly basis over three growing seasons. The final output were measurements of traits on a plot-by-plot basis, identified by the plot ID used by the Proprietary data processing software enabled raw field data to be turned into plant traits and delivered to the PNNL and JGI within the same workday.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Senegalese land surface change analysis and biophysical parameter estimation using NOAA AVHRR spectral data

Surface biophysical estimates were derived from analysis of NOAA Advanced Very High Spectral Resolution (AVHRR) spectral data of the Senegalese area of west Africa. The parameters derived were of solar albedo, spectral visible and near-infrared band reflectance, spectral vegetative index, and ground temperature. Wet and dry linked AVHRR scenes from 1981 through 1985 in Senegal were analyzed for a semi-wet southerly site near Tambacounda and a predominantly dry northerly site near Podor. Related problems were studied to convert satellite derived radiance to biophysical estimates of the land surface. Problems studied were associated with sensor miscalibration, atmospheric and aerosol spatial variability, surface anisotropy of reflected radiation, narrow satellite band reflectance to broad solar band conversion, and ground emissivity correction. The middle-infrared reflectance was approximated with a visible AVHRR reflectance for improving solar albedo estimates. In addition, the spectral composition of solar irradiance (direct and diffuse radiation) between major spectral regions (i.e., ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and middle-infrared) was found to be insensitive to changes in the clear sky atmospheric optical depth in the narrow band to solar band conversion procedure. Solar albedo derived estimates for both sites were not found to change markedly with significant antecedent precipitation events or correspondingly from increases in green leaf vegetation density. The bright soil/substrate contributed to a high albedo for the dry related scenes, whereas the high internal leaf reflectance in green vegetation canopies in the near-infrared contributed to high solar albedo for the wet related scenes. The relationship between solar albedo and ground temperature was poor, indicating the solar albedo has little control of the ground temperature. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the derived visible reflectance were more sensitive to antecedent rainfall amounts and green vegetation changes than were near-infrared changes. The information in the NDVI related to green leaf density changes primarily was from the visible reflectance. The contribution of the near-infrared reflectance to explaining green vegetation is largely reduced when there is a bright substrate.

Vukovich, Fred M.↗